John Illsley

John Edward Illsley (born 24 June 1949) is an English musician, best known as bassist of the rock band Dire Straits. He has received multiple BRIT and Grammy Awards, and a Heritage Award.
As one of the founding band members, with guitarist brothers Mark Knopfler and David Knopfler, and drummer Pick Withers, Illsley played a role in the development of Dire Straits' sound. Illsley and Mark Knopfler were the only members of the band to remain across its entire history. Illsley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Dire Straits in 2018.
Illsley has produced two albums of his own, with Mark Knopfler as a guest musician, and has helped with Mark's personal projects and charities. He released two more albums, influenced by the Celtic-based band Cunla. As well as playing bass on all the Dire Straits recordings, Illsley also contributed backing vocals, with David Knopfler, and both harmonized to Mark's lead vocals and guitar in concert, and on the band's first two studio albums, Dire Straits and Communiqué.
During a period when most major labels expected bands to compose and record one to two albums per year, as well as tour to support them, tensions grew between David Knopfler and his elder brother Mark. Mark wrote nearly every song, was the frontman, and had, in a short time, become a virtuoso on the guitar. During the recording sessions for their third project, Making Movies, David left the band over creative differences with his brother, who had assumed the role of leader. The band hired Hal Lindes to replace David, who stayed with the band for five years, and keyboards were added when Alan Clark joined the band in 1980. Illsley and Mark Knopfler were the only founding members to remain in Dire Straits until the group's dissolution in 1995. Illsley unsuccessfully tried to persuade Mark Knopfler to reform the group. In his November 2021 autobiography My Life in Dire Straits, Illsley confirms that Knopfler had no interest in reforming Dire Straits.
Before Dire Straits disbanded, Illsley released two solo albums, Never Told a Soul (1984) and Glass (1988). Knopfler contributed some of the guitar parts on both. John plays bass on the KSM track Think Loud.