The name Dire Straits was coined by a musician flatmate of Withers, allegedly thought up while they were rehearsing in the kitchen of a friend, Simon Cowe, of Lindisfarne.

In 1977, the group recorded a five-song demo tape which included their future hit single, "Sultans of Swing", as well as "Water of Love" and "Down to the Waterline".

[28][29] That year, Dire Straits began a tour as opening band for Talking Heads, after the re-released "Sultans of Swing" finally started to climb the UK charts.

Featuring the single "Lady Writer", the second album continued in a similar vein to the first and displayed the expanding scope of Knopfler's lyricism on the opening track, "Once Upon a Time in the West".

After the recording sessions were completed, keyboardist Alan Clark and Californian guitarist Hal Lindes joined Dire Straits as full-time members for the On Location tour of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

[27] Making Movies received mostly positive reviews and featured longer songs with more complex arrangements, a style which would continue for the rest of the band's career.

54 in the UK when released as a single in 1981, it remains one of Dire Straits' most famous and popular songs and immediately became a favourite live staple, entering the band’s concert repertoire from this point onwards.

King Crimson saxophonist Mel Collins and session keyboardist Tommy Mandel, who had played with Bryan Adams since 1981, joined the live line-up to help Clark cover his increasingly detailed keyboard parts and arrangements.

[47] Alan Clark contributed significantly, and other Dire Straits members Illsley, Lindes and Williams played on one track, "Freeway Flyer", while Gerry Rafferty sang lead vocals on "The Way It Always Starts".

Also, during this time Knopfler produced Bob Dylan's Infidels which also featured Alan Clark, as well as albums for Aztec Camera and Willy DeVille.

[52] Knopfler also teamed up with Bryan Ferry to contribute lead guitar to one track from his solo album Boys and Girls, released in June 1985.

[53][67] In 2007, the 25th anniversary of the war, Knopfler recorded a new version of the song at Abbey Road Studios to raise funds for British veterans who he said "are still suffering from the effects of that conflict.

"[77] The tour ended at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Australia, on 26 April 1986, where Dire Straits still holds the record for consecutive appearances at 21 nights.

[79] Additionally, in 1985, a group that set out from London to Khartoum to raise money for famine relief, led by John Abbey, was called "The Walk of Life".

[85] After the Brothers in Arms tour ended, Mark Knopfler took a break from Dire Straits, and, during 1987, he concentrated on solo projects and film soundtracks.

Dire Straits regrouped in 1988 for the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert, staged on 11 June 1988 at Wembley Stadium, in which they were the headline act.

"[89] The tremendous success of the Brothers in Arms album and the tour that went with it left the band members under a significant amount of stress, and Knopfler announced that he wanted to work on more personal projects.

[90] Also in 1988, John Illsley released his second solo album, Glass, which featured Mark Knopfler, Alan Clark, Guy Fletcher and Chris White.

In May 1989, Dire Straits reunited for a one off charity concert at the Mayfair Ballroom in Newcastle in honour of 11-year-old Joanne Gillespie – the National Children of Courage and North East Personality award winner who published the 1989 book Brave Heart about her fight against cancer.

This was the last ever appearance by Terry Williams as the band’s drummer, and Brendan Croker played rhythm guitar in place of Jack Sonni.

[95] In 1990, Dire Straits (Knopfler, Illsley, Clark and Fletcher), performed alongside Eric Clapton and his band at the Knebworth Festival, playing "Solid Rock", "Money for Nothing" and "I Think I Love You Too Much".

The final single released in the UK was "The Bug", which reached the top 25 in Canada and contains backing vocals by Vince Gill, who was invited to join the band full-time but declined and pursued a solo career.

Bill Flanagan described the sequence of events in GQ: "The subsequent world tour lasted nearly two years, made mountains of money and drove Dire Straits into the ground.

[112] At this time, Mark Knopfler quietly disbanded Dire Straits and prepared to work on his first full-fledged solo album (still signed to Mercury Records).

Illsley came on for a Dire Straits session toward the end of which, at a Shepherd's Bush concert, Jimmy Nail provided backing vocals for Knopfler's solo composition, "Why Aye Man".

[124] In 2011, Alan Clark, Chris White, and Phil Palmer, along with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' drummer Steve Ferrone, formed a new band, the Straits, to perform at a charity show at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

[126] Speaking to Billboard magazine, Illsley said he was pleased to have his work as a musician recognised,[109] but felt that Knopfler was not enthusiastic about a possible reunion performance.

[130] In September 2021, Alan Clark released his piano solo album Backstory, and in November 2021 Illsley published his autobiography My Life in Dire Straits.

[131] In November 2023, Illsley reiterated in an interview that he and Knopfler had no interest in reforming Dire Straits, in spite of having received large financial offers to get back together.

"[135] Dire Straits remains one of the most popular British rock bands as well as one of the world's most commercially successful artists, with total worldwide album sales of more than 120 million.