Photo Helge Øverås CC-4.0

 

Dire Straits guitarist Jack Sonni died on August 30 at 68.  Sonni got acquainted with Dire Straits member brothers Mark and David Knopfler in 1978 while working at a music store in Manhattan.  During a London visit five years later, he met-up with Mark Knopfler and was invited to join the band as a second guitarist.  His time with the group was limited to a few years.  He put his musical career on hold when he became the father of twin girls in 1988, but stayed connected with the music indiustry as a marketing exec for a company that made digital equipment for musicians and was later  named the VP for marketing communication by Guitar Center.  Sonni eventually resumed playing music in a band called The Leisure Class and played with other former Dire Straits members as the Dire Straits Legacy Project.