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Dire Straits bassist doesn’t count on band’s reunion, would love to play in Russia

He also recalled that the band’s very last tour in support of On Every Street album was very difficult for all the bandmates

LONDON, November 10. /TASS/. Dire Straits bassist John Illsley is not counting on the band’s reunion, but would like to play a concert in Russia as a solo artist someday. He made it clear talking to reporters on Wednesday while presenting his autobiography My Life in Dire Straits, he had written during the lockdown.

When asked if he would like to follow the example of some of his former bandmates who had recently played concerts in Russia, Illsley replied:

"I would love to [go to Russia] if somebody invites me. [I would be] very happy to do that."

"At the moment it is very difficult for musicians from the UK to play in Europe, partially because of the Brexit thing but that’s a very boring subject, so we won’t go there," he joked.

"Whether it is more difficult to play in Russia or not - I don’t know. You have to bent over backwards to play in America, you always had to… So, at the moment I am concentrating on doing some things in the UK," the musician said.

Touching upon the prospects of a Dire Straits reunion, following the example of other great old bands such as ABBA or Genesis, Illsley said that the reunion is "highly unlikely."

"I think the inclination is probably not there. I think we felt that what we did was enough and we left it at a very good place for all of us," Illsley explained.

He also recalled that the band’s very last tour in support of On Every Street album (1991) was very difficult for all the bandmates.

"The band was under enormous pressure, everybody was exhausted, psychologically kind of stretched. We realized we had done enough of that and I think that trying to recreate that would be a lit bit pointless," the musician said.

But he noted that for him and his former bandmates the Dire Straits era is "a lovely memory to have."

"I would like to leave it in that space, which is a reason why I wanted to write the book - to celebrate that time. <…> But life goes on," Illsley concluded.

According to him, all members of Dire Straits are now engaged in their own musical projects, and as for him - in addition to working on a book and making music with his own band he also took up paining.

History of Dire Straits

Dire Straits was founded in 1977 in London by guitarist brothers - Mark Knopfler, who also acted as the band’s lead singer, and David Knopfler. They were joined by bass guitarist John Illsley and drummer Pick Withers. Dire Straits became one of the most commercially successful bands in rock music history with over 120 million copies of their albums sold worldwide. Mark Knopfler officially disbanded Dire Straits in 1995. In 2017, Dire Straits was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, Ohio. The same year, the Dire Straits Experience, a project by the legendary British rock band’s saxophone player Chris White and guitarist/vocalist Terence Reis kicked off their world tour playing concerts in Moscow and Ufa.