Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler, with his gruff tenor and boogie-rock guitar licks, made Dire Straits one of the top-selling rock bands of all time -- but that's only half the story. Shortly after the band's most successful record, 1985's Brothers in Arms, the group went on a leave from which they never fully re-emerged. Knopfler had already scored music for two films, 1983's Local Hero and 1984's Cal, and he threw himself into soundtrack and production work, most notably Tina Turner's Break Every Rule and The Princess Bride soundtrack. Around this time he formed country project the Notting Hillbillies with friend and collaborator Steve Phillips. In 1990 he collaborated with Chet Atkins on Neck and Neck, and a year later Dire Straits released their final studio album. Knopfler's solo career began in earnest with 1996's Golden Heart and has been sporadic since. He has collaborated with some of the biggest names in music: Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and perhaps most successfully with Emmylou Harris. Their All the Roadrunning (2006) was nominated for a Grammy and led to a world tour and live album, Real Live Roadrunning. Knopfler put out his seventh solo album, Kill to Get Crimson, in 2007.