Ver Cuevana. Dire Straits show at Les Arènes de Nîmes 1992 festival in Southern France. Dire Straits is a British rock band formed in Deptford in the summer of 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass) and Pick Withers (drums). Considered one of the greatest rock bands of the 1980s, Dire Straits has sold over 120 million albums since its inception.