1. John Edward Illsley was born on 24 June 1949 and is an English musician, best known as bassist of the rock band Dire Straits.
24 Facts About John Illsley
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John Illsley has received multiple BRIT and Grammy Awards, and a Heritage Award.
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John Illsley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Dire Straits in 2018.
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John 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.
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John Illsley released two more albums, influenced by the Celtic-based band Cunla.
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John Illsley was born in Leicester in June 1949, the fourth of four children of Wilfred John Illsley and Florence.
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John Illsley's mother was the daughter of a schoolmaster; his father was in the Royal Signals Corps in north Africa and Sicily during World War II.
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John Illsley grew up in Market Harborough, on the border of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, "in the heart of Middle England".
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John Illsley's parents, "both Leicestershire born and bred", moved there when he was four, and his childhood memories include searching for sticklebacks in the River Jordan in nearby Little Bowden.
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John Illsley attended Bromsgrove School, Worcestershire and a Further Education College near Kettering, Northamptonshire, before starting work as a management trainee for a timber firm.
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John Illsley studied Sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London and opened a record shop with his girlfriend.
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In Deptford, south London, John Illsley shared a flat with guitarist David Knopfler and met David's older brother, Mark, whose marriage had broken up.
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David Knopfler was keen to start a band and John Illsley played bass guitar and had the same musical interests.
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John Illsley unsuccessfully tried to persuade Mark Knopfler to reform the group.
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In March 2005, in a pub in Leicestershire, John Illsley happened upon an Irish Celtic rock group, Cunla.
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Cunla subsequently played at a summer party John Illsley was hosting in Hampshire.
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John Illsley then appeared with them on several occasions, most notably on 23 September 2006 at Cathedrale d'Image in Les Baux de Provence, France.
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In October 2008, Creek Records released an album, Beautiful You, by Pearle and John Illsley, who embarked on a tour of Ireland.
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John Illsley collaborated with Pearle and Paul Brady on the song "One" and featured in the accompanying music video.
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John Illsley spends time at his home in Provence, France.
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John Illsley is a partner in two nearby hotels: The Master Builder's House Hotel near Beaulieu and The George Hotel on the Isle of Wight.
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John Illsley is a keen painter and the first exhibition of his work was shown at the Nevill Keating McIlroy Gallery, Pickering Place, London in 2007.
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In 2019 John Illsley appeared in the final episode of BBC's Rick Stein's Secret France where he dined with Rick Stein at a restaurant near his home in Provence.
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In November 2021, John Illsley published his autobiography, My Life in Dire Straits.