While Dire Straits fans will be pleased to hear that the band will perform at its Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction next week, they will no doubt be frustrated to learn that the band will be doing so without frontman Mark Knopfler.
Dire Straits keyboardist Alan Clark made the revelation on his website this week, addressing fan questions regarding whether the band would perform and who of its many former members would be present.
“Well, here it is and it's official: Myself, Guy Fletcher and John Illsley will attend the ceremony where we'll be performing an unplugged version of ‘Telegraph Road,’ with me on harmonium, Guy on ukulele, John on banjo, and the vocal sung by Stevie Wonder," he wrote.
Illsley later amended the statement to say Wonder was not involved and joked: "No, after much deliberation we decided the best possible replacement for Mark would be the Red Army Choir, which took some organising, as you can imagine, what with the current political climate. I hear Trump swung it for us usin his hotline to Putin."
Dire Straits last performed together in 1995 and the band was the last to publicly confirm its status for the April 14 ceremony, which will be televised at a later date.
Illsley said in an interview after Dire Straits was announced as an inductee that he would try to convince the reclusive Knopfler to attend.
"It's essentially up to him if he wants to do anything, and I completely respect his feelings about it," Illsley said at the time. "He doesn't want too much white light."
It's not clear why Knopfler will be a no-show. Mark's brother David Knopfler, who performed on the first two Dire Straits albums, is also not making the trip.
This year's other Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees includes Moody Blues, the Cars, and Bon Jovi.
Original article by Andrew Magnotta at iHeartRadio