Jack Sonni, The ‘Other Guitar Player’ In Dire Straits, Dies at 68

Jack Thomas Sonni, the ex-guitar player with Dire Straits, whose contributions can be heard on the band’s 1985 release Brothers In Arms, one of the U.K.’s all-time best-selling albums, died Wednesday (Aug. 30). He was 68.

Born Dec. 9, 1954 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Sonni’s passion for music began at a young age, when he learned various instruments, including piano, trumpet and the six-string, which he mastered.

Sonni furthered his career with a relocation to New York, and he’d make his mark in the history books as the “other guitar player in Dire Straits,” a reference he was happy to share on his official biography.

Dire Straits’ lead guitarist is, of course, frontman Mark Knopfler, widely recognized by his peers as one of the finest to ever play the instrument. The two axemen reportedly met in a guitar shop, after which Sonni was invited to record parts for the band’s fifth studio album.

The result was Brothers In Arms, which led the Official U.K. Albums Chart for 14 weeks, and reigned over the Billboard 200 for nine weeks. The album smashed records around the world, shifting an estimated 30 million copies worldwide, and won two Grammys (best music video, short form for the title track, and best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal for the Billboard Hot 100 leader “Money For Nothing”).

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When the rockers embarked on a major world tour in support, Sonni wore a distinctive red coat. That tour, too, was a record-setter. In Australia, fans bought more than 950,000 tickets, a record that stood for decades.

Sonni played guitar synthesizer on album cut “The Man’s Too Strong” and performed on stage with the band for the Wembley Stadium leg of the historic 1985 Live Aid concerts.

Sonni nominally retired from music in 1988 when his twin daughters were born, but returned to the stage in recent years to perform in groups like Dire Straits Legacy, a Knopfler-less group featuring Dire Straits alums. Sonni took a job as vice president of marketing for Guitar Center, and also tried his hand at writing crime fiction. As recently as June 2, Sonni posted on Facebook that he was working on “getting my novel in shape for my agent’s publisher hunt.” Alongside a photo of his typewriter, he shared a list of influences, including Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto and Denis Johnson’s Already Dead.

On June 1, Sonni shared a meditative post telling his friends and followers to “be in the moment. Celebrate the here and now. Don’t dwell in the past. Cherish the memories. And above all — hug them while you can, chilluns.”

Sonni’s cause of death has not yet been revealed.

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