Former Dire Straits frontman and legendary guitarist Mark Knopfler brings his Get Lucky Tour to the Dodge Theatre in Downtown Phoenix on Sunday.
In the event your knowledge of Knopfler doesn’t extend beyond Dire Straits’ seminal “Money for Nothing'” video, here are 7 things* you should know before Sunday’s show (to which you can buy tickets here):
1) Knopfler is quite British, and such is the case so often with British performers, you can’t really hear the accent when he sings.
2) Co-founded Dire Straits in 1977 with his brother, David. The group disbanded in 1994.
3) “Money for Nothing” was not the group’s first hit, “Sultans of Swing” was.
4) Ironically, “Romeo and Juliet,” from the band’s 1980 album Making Movies, was used in a movie, 1995’s Empire Records.
5) Wrote the score for The Princess Bride, a movie most 30-something women have seen as many times or more than most 30-something men have seen Star Wars. Also wrote the music for Wag the Dog.
6) Won three Grammy Awards as a collaborator with country music star Chet Atkins.
7) Ranked No. 27 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”
You can become a member of Knopfler’s online community and buy a cool baby-style T here.
* Seven because it’s Knopfler’s Lucky Tour… get it? Lucky No. 7? Whatever. [Sigh]