Sultans Of Swing

Sultans Of Swing

Dire Straits

Sultans of Swing is a song by the British rock band Dire Straits from their self-titled debut album. It was released in 1978.

The music for Sultans of Swing was composed by Mark Knopfler on a National Steel guitar, but Knopfler didn't think very highly of it at first.

"I thought it was dull, but as soon as I bought my first Strat in 1977, the whole thing changed, though the lyrics remained the same. It just came alive as soon as I played it on that ’61 Strat which remained my main guitar for many years and was basically the only thing I played on the first album and the new chord changes just presented themselves and fell into place."

The song reached the top 10 in the UK and the USA, reaching number 8 on the UK Singles Chart and number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.