Performance · Production

David Knopfler

Glasgow, United Kingdom · b. 1952-12-27

David Knopfler is credited on 797 releases across 66 albums tracked on Gatefold, active 1978–2025 — the collector-built map of who actually made the music.

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David Knopfler (born December 27, 1952 in Glasgow) is a Scottish guitarist, singer and songwriter.
Founder member of Dire Straits along with his brother Mark (opens in a new tab), though David left the group after recording the first three albums so as to 'broaden his horizons'. David played rhythm guitar on Dire Straits' first two albums, Dire Straits (opens in a new tab) and Communiqué (opens in a new tab). During the recording of Making Movies (opens in a new tab) he left the group to pursue a solo career.
After leaving Dire Straits, David released his first solo album in 1983 titled Release (opens in a new tab). Behind the Lines (opens in a new tab) his second album was released in 1985 and Cut the Wire (opens in a new tab) in 1986. 1988 saw the release of his fourth album, Lips Against the Steel (opens in a new tab). - released in the U.S. by Cypress Records. Lifelines (opens in a new tab) in 1991 was recorded in Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios. David released The Giver (opens in a new tab) in 1993. (MESA/Bluemoon (opens in a new tab) in the US). Its sparse acoustic arrangements brought strong critical acclaim. Co-produced with Harry Bogdanovs, Small Mercies (opens in a new tab) and Wishbones (opens in a new tab) followed in 1995 & 2001. Chris Rea guested on Wishbones (opens in a new tab).
His latest CD, Ship of Dreams (opens in a new tab) was released in 2004. A book of poetry has been recently published with the title "Blood Stones and Rhythmic Beasts" by UK's BlackWing books (Released 6 May 2005. ISBN 0-9550260).
The US & Canadian jazz label Justintime Records (opens in a new tab) released Ship of Dreams (opens in a new tab) in October 2005 with an alternate rendition of "Tears Fall" featuring Megan Slankard (replacing Jule Neigel on the original European release).
Recent co-writing projects have included co-writes with Amilia Spicer (opens in a new tab), Mack Starks, Megan Slankard and Wendy Lands.
David has also scored the soundtracks for German TV productions including such films: Treffer (1984), Jakob hinter der blauen Tür (1989) and Der grosse Bellheim.
Knopfler has started recording his next album with keyboardist/producer, Tony Carey.