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INSANE: Mark knopfler | Vintage Vibes

Celebrity guitar auctions: teenage dreams or billionaire boys’ club? How A-list gear sales became the hottest ticket in town

From Johnny Marr to Mark Knopfler, big-name guitars seem to have become so valuable that even their owners don’t want to play them anymore…

Guitar World

“He was like, ‘If you want to be a real guitar player, you got to play righty. They don’t make great left-handed guitars’”: The advice Jared James Nichols took –and the bad advice he ignored –to develop his electric fingerstyle

In a journey that took him from rural Wisconsin to world stages, Nichols reflects on the fingerstyle players who inspired him

Guitar World

“Playing with your fingers has something to do with immediacy and soul. You’re absolutely in touch with what’s going on”: How Mark Knopfler combined sublime fingerpicking and Shakespearean tragedy in a Dire Straits classic

The early ’80s hit featured his iconic National Style O resonator guitar

MusicRadar

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“Believe you me, I think the offers that have been turned down are literally eye-watering”: They might be Gen-Z's new favourite band, but the chances of a Dire Straits reunion are "unfortunately, nil” says keyboard player Guy Fletcher

One of their biggest hits is currently going gangbusters on TikTok

MusicRadar

“I said, ‘You’ve got to be joking! You can’t put out a record about a trad band playing in a pub and expect it to sell!’": the story of the classic Dire Straits song that's often imitated, but rarely mastered

"It’s not to do with gear, it’s all to do with the way the brain sends signals to his fingers – that’s what makes Mark so special"

MusicRadar

"He thought that the band should be a democracy, and it was more like a brutal dictatorship": The tangled story of Dire Straits, the million-selling band who quit at the height of their fame

How Dire Straits went from the pubs of London to become one of the biggest bands of the 1980s

Louder

“He would often arrive at sessions with two banners, which he placed either side of his kit while recording, reading ‘You done hired the hit-maker’”: From the Purdie shuffle to its extended jazz chords - analysing Steely Dan's Babylon Sisters

A track that took 274 attempts to mix must’ve been worth it in the end, right?

MusicRadar

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“Mark Knopfler, he's soloing kind of all through the record. And that's what I did, too”: Bruce Hornsby explains why a classic Dire Straits song is a “kindred spirit” to his biggest hit

He also reveals which hip-hop interpolation of The Way It Is he likes the best

MusicRadar

This album was the 1980s poster-boy for CD – but I massively prefer it on vinyl

A digital masterpiece intended to be heard on compact disc; but how does Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms compare to vinyl forty years on?

What Hi-Fi?

“There were no frets left on it. I’d never seen anything as horrible!” How a new recruit turned Swedish adventure rockers Hällas into a band of gearheads

The latest addition to the ever-quirky prog outfit's lineup, guitarist Rickard Swahn made an impact at his first rehearsal among worn-out frets, weird pickup choices, and crumbling amps – and saved a song that was too Mark Knopfler for them

Guitar World

“I’ve gone after three Soldanos. Eric Clapton’s, Mark Knopfler’s... and finally Gary’s came up”: Joe Bonamassa test drives Gary Moore’s iconic Soldano amp – which has been unplayed for 20 years

Bonamassa bought the historic amp head at auction last year

Guitar World

"Sprawling. Atmospheric. Cinematic. Enthralling": Chris Rea finds friends among fans of Mark Knopfler and J.J. Cale on The Road To Hell

The Road To Hell fuses Chris Rea's weather-beaten blues instincts with serious songwriting smarts and a sharp-eyed sense of social unease

Louder

“He thought that the band should be a democracy, and it was more like a brutal dictatorship”: The tangled story of Dire Straits, the million-selling band who quit at the height of their fame

How Dire Straits went from the pubs of London to become one of the biggest bands of the 1980s

Louder

“At the Mark Knopfler sale, I remember seeing people in tears”: A-list guitar auctions are now a firm fixture, and the sums involved are eye-watering. But who is driving the boom – and is it sustainable?

The amount of money changing hands for artist-owned guitars at auction is eye-watering. Amelia Walker of Christie's London explains what sells and who's buying – and whether it will last

Guitar World

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Cinemablend

Rob Reiner Sneaking His Hat From Spinal Tap Into The Princess Bride Is My Favorite Story About The Beloved Director

As you wish, Mr. Knopfler

Guitar World

“What Dire Straits would sound like if Mark Knopfler grew up in the deserts of Algeria rather than the streets of Newcastle”: October 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks

Liven up your Halloween with six-string (and five-string) sorcery from Alter Bridge, Mei Semones, Whitney, Karma Sheen, Jacob Collier, Unprocessed, and many more

Louder

“She had scratches on the side of her face. I said, ‘What happened?’She said, ‘Oh nothing, Keith threw the cat at me’”: Bill Wyman on Jimi Hendrix’s brilliance, Keith Moon’s madness and Mick Jagger’s brutal reaction to him leaving the Rolling Stones

The Beatles, The Who, Jimi Hendrix – ex-Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman has known them all

Guitar World

“I pushed him towards the Les Paul. I can see him now, holding those notes. I don’t think he could have played those parts on any other guitar”: Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits’ inner circle look back on Brothers in Arms – their world conquering “fluke”

Brothers In Arms reinvented Knopfler and gave him more fame than he could handle. 40 years on, in a rare interview, the band look back on thebiggest rock album of the '80s

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Guitar World

“That song should have been finished on an Eagles record with Joe and I following up on Hotel California with some dazzling guitar solos”: The song that started life as an Eagles track – but ended up as the theme song for an animated film

Plans for a Hotel California sequel were in motion, but the track wouldn’t emerge from the Eagles archive until a few years later

Guitar World

“I confess I pushed him more towards the Les Paul sound. I felt a resistance early on. But I persevered”: Why Mark Knopfler’s guitar tech convinced him to play Les Pauls – and how they impacted his tone and playing

Knopfler is forever linked to the Fender Strat – however, to successfully convey the emotional weight required on Brothers in Arms, his tech pushed him towards Gibsons

Guitar World

A rare 12-string guitar that Mark Knopfler “borrowed” for 50 years is now up for auction

The guitar was originally owned by his friend, Lindisfarne's Jeff Sadler – and was played on the Dire Straits' sophomore album, Communiqué

Louder

"The fallout was much bigger than anything we could ever have foreseen": Dire Straits and the adventure of Brothers In Arms

Everything changed for Dire Straits when they made Brothers In Arms: Mark Knopfler, John Illsley and Guy Fletcher look back

Guitar World

“People have bought tickets and you can see them thinking, ‘That’s not ‘Brothers in Arms’”: Mark Knopfler on why one of the Dire Straits’ most iconic tracks hinges on this four-note guitar intro

The Dire Straits guitarist reflects on the songwriting process of some of the band’s classic tracks

MusicRadar

"Once I’ve played those four notes, then I can start to improvise”: Mark Knopfler on the Dire Straits song he's come to accept that he has to start in the same way every time

"People have bought tickets," he says

Guitar World

“Being called a guitar hero was just awkward. Whether I’ve written a good song or not, that’s what counts to me”: Mark Knopfler on 40 years of Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms – the guitars, the riffs… the pressure of learning to play in time

From his lucky ’83 Les Paul and Fleetwood Mac-inspired soloing to “getting away with murder” at the sessions, the Dire Straits legend opens up in his most revealing interview in years

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