{"id":468601,"date":"2026-06-09T15:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T15:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/468601\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T15:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T15:47:10","slug":"believe-you-me-i-think-the-offers-that-have-been-turned-down-are-literally-eye-watering-they-might-be-gen-zs-new-favourite-band-but-the-chances-of-a-dire-straits-reunion-are-unf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/468601\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBelieve you me, I think the offers that have been turned down are literally eye-watering\u201d: They might be Gen-Z’s new favourite band, but the chances of a Dire Straits reunion are “unfortunately, nil\u201d says keyboard player Guy Fletcher"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite being hugely successful, Dire Straits were never what tastemakers might describe as \u2018cool\u2019. As such, they seem like an unlikely band to be enjoying a Gen-Z revival, but one song in particular is currently experiencing a significant TikTok-powered resurgence.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re talking about Walk Of Life, a jaunty hit from Dire Straits\u2019 all-conquering 1985 album, Brothers In Arms<\/a>. The song hit number 2 in the UK and went Top 10 in the US and, as well as being used as the soundtrack to countless short-form dance videos, has now been streamed more than a billion times on Spotify<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dire Straits – Walk Of Life (Official Music Video) – YouTube
\n\"Dire<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

In fact, only one of Mark Knopfler and co\u2019s songs has been streamed more: Sultans of Swing<\/a>, another hit that\u2019s resonating with younger listeners.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos From\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Speaking to The Telegraph<\/a>, Dire Straits\u2019 keyboard player Guy Fletcher says that the band\u2019s renewed popularity is \u201cin some ways surreal, yes,\u201d but points out that, following the huge success of Brothers In Arms, they always had a wide age range of people coming to see them play live.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would sometimes see three generations in the crowd,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Asked why he thinks the music is resonating with a new wave of listeners, Fletcher says that it could be at least partly due to people seeking out musical authenticity in the age of AI.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith bands like Angine de Poitrine coming on to the radar \u2013 people like things that are different, things that are real,\u201d he points out.<\/p>\n

Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here. <\/p>\n

For new and existing fans of the band, though, the bad news is that the chances of a reunion are \u201cunfortunately, nil,\u201d says Fletcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelieve you me, I think the offers [for a reunion] that have been turned down are literally eye-watering,\u201d he adds, noting that Knopfler \u2013 who he still performs with \u2013 has no desire to make Dire Straits as big as they once were.<\/p>\n

If those streaming and viral video numbers keep rising, though, it might happen whether he likes it or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite being hugely successful, Dire Straits were never what tastemakers might describe as \u2018cool\u2019. As such, they seem…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-468601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}