Dire Straits will perform at their Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction on April 14th. Keyboardist with the band Alan Clark has confirmed that the band will play the event without front man Mark Knopfler.
In a statement on his website, Clark wrote of receiving the accolade: ‘Fame at last! While it’s nice to receive recognition for my work, I really can’t take it seriously. That said, I’ve bought a new tuxedo and my signature now ends with the words ‘Living Legend’.
There’s a lot of conjecture on forums about whether the band is performing at the Hall of Fame, and if not, why not, and who in the band are going to the ceremony.
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.”
Mark Knopfler hasn’t made a public comment regarding the event, but his brother and co-founding member of the band, David Knopfler, shared his reason for not attending the induction via a comment on social media.
“Travel costs. In their wisdom, after promising to pay my expenses they reneged on their promise,” writes Knopler. “I can well understand that with only $5M a year in sponsorships and 100K a table and no fees for the artist, that paying my taxi to the airport must have given them heart murmurs like Squeers hearing Oliver Twist asking for more and frightened them into refusal, otherwise one might get the wrong idea entirely about what they’re all about.”
— Dire Straits (@DireStraits77) March 27, 2018
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