Mark Knopfler is a successful guitarist who contributed to Dire Straits’ impactful works. Knopfler won four Grammys during his career and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame as a member of Dire Straits in 2018. The band gained massive success with the single ‘Sultans of Swing’ from the self-titled debut album released in 1978. The song became a signature track of Dire Straits throughout their career.
The fifth studio album called ‘Brothers in Arms,’ released in 1985, provided them a global success by selling more than 30 million copies. It stayed number one for weeks on the UK Albums Chart and the Billboard 200 in the United States. ‘Brothers in Arms’ gained Grammy and Brit Awards to Dire Straits. While the band was at the peak of its career, Mark Knopfler decided to leave the band and focus on his solo career. He once declared that being in a band badly affected him.
How Did Being A Member Of Dire Straits Affect Mark Knopfler?
Being famous can bring several challenges to celebrities since it can create obstacles to living freely. While some do not consider these situations challenging, this can be problematic for others. No matter how successful, famous, or rich they are, some musicians cannot stand the difficulties of being a celebrity and may choose to quit their jobs even if they are at the peak of their careers.
As Mark Knopfler revealed in a past conversation with CBS Sunday Morning, he could not see being famous as a decent event in his life. According to the guitarist, he did the best thing by leaving Dire Straits because he did not belong to being around the people he did not even know during his fame. When the interviewer asked if this meant that he did not like being famous, Knopfler responded that fame did not evoke something good for him.
Mark Knopfler explained about leaving Dire Straits:
“It seemed to me that was the only intelligent thing to do. It got so big that we had three stages that were leap-frogging around in front of each other. You’d walk into catering and see some guys you didn’t know, and I didn’t like that, didn’t want to be that, I didn’t want to be that size.”
When asked about the success and enjoying the songs, Knopfler said:
“Well, I can’t think of anything good about fame, can you? I still enjoy playing the songs. If you’ve written them and they have that effect on people, it’s very important to plan well.”
Since Mark Knopfler was dissatisfied with his life and felt being famous was affecting him badly, he realized that parting ways with Dire Straits would have been a better impact on his life even if he was at the peak of his fame. Still, the musician felt great joy in the success and playing the songs because it’s important to appreciate their effect on people.
