Dire Straits have turned down “huge amounts of money” to reform over the years
John Illsley of Dire Straits has revealed that the band have turned down significant financial offers to reform over the years.
Dire Straits formed in 1977, with Mark Knopfler acting as lead guitarist and vocalist. Alongside his brother David, drummer Pick Withers and Illsley on bass, the band enjoyed a successful initial run until 1988.
They reformed in 1990 before disbanding five years later. Subsequently, Knopfler has honed a solo career, releasing nine solo albums, nine soundtrack albums and a handful of collaborative records.
Despite fans hoping for a Dire Straits reunion, the band have consistently denied that such an event will happen any time soon. Illsley revealed to The Telegraph that the band have been offered “huge amounts of money,” which they have turned down.
Illsley explained that when the band came to an end, “I was pretty happy about that because we were exhausted. We were exhausted. Mentally, physically, emotionally exhausted.”
He added: “Most of our marriages were falling apart, we weren’t seeing our children very much – it was all wrong, basically. It’s the usual things that can happen to people in bands.”
“When you stop a machine like the Dire Straits thing, there’s a massive vacuum. There’s a massive vacuum. And you ask yourself if it was a good idea. And I had to keep telling myself that it was a good idea,” Illsley continued.
According to the bassist, the band’s former manager, Paul Crockford, always says to him, “I wish people would stop offering me huge amounts of money to put [Dire Straits] back together.”
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