Recommendations of the Editorial team
An archive classic from 2023.
John Illsley, the bassist of Dire Straits, has made it clear that the band will not be reuniting any time soon. However, the musicians were hit hard, as he told the British “Telegraph”.
However, the lucrative offers for reunification were all rejected. Illsley indicated in the conversation that he meets regularly with the band’s former manager.
‘I wish people would stop offering me huge sums of money to [Dire Straits] to get back together again’”
“Every time we have lunch he says to me, ‘I wish people would stop offering me huge sums of money to [Dire Straits] to get back together again,’” said the musician.
“When you stop a well-oiled machine like Dire Straits, you naturally create a vacuum for yourself,” the bassist explained thoughtfully. “You then ask yourself whether it was a good idea to stop. And I had to keep telling myself that it was the right thing to do.”
Art instead of Dire Straits reunion
Illsley was not idle after the band ended, he studied painting and at some point began to exhibit his works of art. “I leaned the bass against the wall and said to myself: ‘Thank you very much, but I’m going to do something different now,’” said the 74-year-old, apparently without any regrets or phantom pains about wanting to play live again.
Knopfler focused on a solo career
Dire Straits had disbanded in 1995 without rancor. Illsley, along with Mark Knopfler, was one of the permanent members. Both remained friends. In 2008, the bassist expressed interest in a comeback, but Knopfler wanted to continue pursuing his solo career. Regardless of turning down the money for a reunion, this was probably a final artistic decision, as the singer did not appear when the band was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2018.