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Dire Straits music biography continued...

in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsely (bass), and Pick Withers (drums), the band's first taste of stardom came with the release of the single, "Sultans of Swing" off their 1978 self-titled album, so named because of the financial crises the band members were facing during its recording. After the album was released in the United States by Warner Brothers, it caught on quickly and sold over 1 million copies. Later, when re-released as a single, "Sultans of Swing" became a surprise U.K. chart hit, making the top 10, and then went on to become a very popular live song throughout the band's career. Dire Straits big breakthrough, however, came with the 1984 album Brothers In Arms, which went on to be a huge hit both in the UK and internationally, spawning such hit singles as "Money For Nothing," "So Far Away", "Brothers In Arms", "Walk of Life", and "Your Latest Trick. "Money For Nothing" was the first video to be aired on MTV and the UK and went on to win the group the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with a Vocal in 1985 at the 28th annual Grammy Awards. Brothers in Arms album peaked at No. 1 on Billboard magazine's Top Pop Albums Chart for nine weeks, going multi-platinum, and finishing at No. 5 for 1986.



After the huge success of Brothers in Arms, the band went on an extended hiatus to pursue solo efforts. It wasn't until 1991 that they reconvened to record On Every Street, which met with mixed reviews and only moderate success. The 1991-1992 world tour that followed On Every Street was not as successful as the previous 1985-1986 tour for Brothers in Arms, and after it Mark Knopler expressed his intention to stop touring on a massive scale. Dire Straits released one last album in 1995 before disbanding. Although the band reunited to perform at certain events afterwards, they effectively were no more. But Rolling Stone has called Dire Straits "nothing if not a groove band." And for many years, their fans reveled in this grooviness.