Dire Straits Legacy made their debut in 2017 featuring four musicians with roots as members of the popular British rock group, Dire Straits. Alan Clark, Danny Cummings, Mel Collins and Phil Palmer have come together once more, this time joining forces with drummer Steve Ferrone of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and former Yes singer Trevor Horn. Clark joined Dire Straits as the group’s touring keyboardist in 1980, solidifying his place as an official member shortly thereafter while recording their fourth studio album Love Over Gold (1982). Clark co-produced the band’s final studio release, On Every Street, with the Strait’s original guitarist and lead singer Mark Knopfler (who is not part of the Legacy line up). Collins jumped on board a few years later playing percussion in the early ‘90s, eventually branching out to work on Knopfler’s solo projects in later years. Collins served as the band’s touring saxophone player in the early ‘80s, with Palmer doing the same in the early ‘90s lineup.
Dire Straits was established in 1977 by Mark Knopfler, David Knopfler, John Illsley and Pick Withers. The group, hailing from London, England, endured several lineup changes throughout its 15-year career, with Mark and John the only remaining founders at the time they officially disbanded in 1995. Dire Straits has come to be known as one of the world’s best-selling music artists, with record sales exceeding 100 million units. They have spent over 1,100 weeks on the UK albums chart, ranking them fifth of all-time, with their 1985 album Brothers in Arms becoming the eighth best-selling album in UK Chart history.
