Mark Knopfler was born on the 12th August 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He is a singer and guitarist best known as the frontman of the British rock band Dire Straits. His famous guitar seems like a cross between the ethereal sound of The Shadows of Hank Marvin and finger picking play of J.J. Cale. The low-nose Knopfler’s voice evokes memories of Bob Dylan and also J.J. Cale. Among many awards Mark Knopfler has won are a number of Grammy and Brit Awards. Knopfler has been active in the entertainment industry since 1965.
How much is the wealth of the singer? According to the information of authoritative sources, the net worth of Mark Knopfler stands at $95 million, as of the data presented in the middle of 2016. His assets include a collection of classic cars, to give examples: the Maserati 300S and an Austin-Healey 100S.
Mark Knopfler Net Worth $95 Million
Concerning his professional career, Knopfler rose to fame as a lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Dire Straits (1977 – 1995). The band won immediate success with their self-titled debut album in 1978, which includes the famous single “Sultans of Swing” and which constituted their first record deal. In 1985, appeared another studio album “Brothers in Arms”, which was one of the first fully digitally recorded albums. In 1990, he played in the country band The Notting Hillbillies founded by Mark Knopfler, and they released an album “Missing Presumed…. having a good time”. After a series of events focused on all band members they decided to perform only for special occasions. However, Mark’s interest in country music extended to collaborations with Kris Kristofferson, and an album recorded with Emmylou Harris in 2006, to their mutual financial benefit.
Besides his work with the aforementioned bands and artsits, Knopfler has released several soundtracks and later solo albums – his first was called “Golden Heart” and came out in 1996. In 2000, “Sailing to Philadelphia” was released the title track of which was a minor hit in several countries. In 2003, Knopfler was hit while riding his motorcycle, and seven ribs, his shoulder blade and collarbone were broken, so Mark had to stop his activities for seven months.
In 2009 appeared his sixth solo album – “Get Lucky”. For the record, the frontman pulled Dire Straits back into his own British Grove Studios in London, and the studio won the Music Producers Guild Award as the Best Studio. In the middle of 2010 he worked on a world tour consisting of nearly 90 shows in North America and Europe, playing mostly material from his solo career, but also some Dire Straits songs. In 2012, he released his seventh solo album “Privateering”, and iIn 2015 the eighth solo album “Tracker” was released which topped the music charts in almost all European and American countries.
Moreover, Mark Knopfler has also written songs for other artists including “Private Dancer” for Tina Turner and “I Think I Love You Too Much” for the blind blues guitarist Jeff Healey. He worked on the albums “Slow Train Coming” and “Infidels” by Bob Dylan, and acted as producer for, among others Willy DeVille, Aztec Camera and Randy Newman.
Finally, in the personal life of the singer, Mark Knopfler has married for three times, firstly to schoolfriend Kathy White, whom he divorced in 1973. In 1983, Knopfler married Lourdes Salomone; they had twins in 1987, but the couple broke up in 1993. In 1997, Knopfler married the British actress and writer Kitty Aldridge – they have two daughters.
