Jack Sonni, best known as “the other guitarist” in Dire Straits, died August 30. He was 68 and suffered a stroke at his home in Mississippi.

A Pennsylvania native, Sonni moved to New York City in the mid ’70s, becoming well-known by playing weekly jams at Kenny’s Castaways, in Greenwich Village. He also started working at music stores on 48th Street, including Rudy’s, where he met Mark Knopfler.

After Straits’ second guitarist Hal Lindes left the band in 1984, Knopfler asked the affable and talented Sonni to join; the timely connection saw Sonni, discouraged and set to leave New York after struggling for a decade, suddenly bound for George Martin’s AIR Studios in Montserrat, where the band was nearly finished with Brothers in Arms. Sonni recorded guitar synth for “The Man’s Too Strong,” then played some of the biggest venues in the world with Straits, including Live Aid Wembley on July 13, 1985.

Following the band’s breakup, Sonni went to work for Seymour Duncan pickups and, later, Rivera Amplification, Line 6, and Guitar Center. After leaving the corporate world in 2006, he split time between writing literature and hosting the music podcast “Jack Sonni’s Leisure Class.” He also returned to gigging and performing with other former members in The Dire Straits Legacy project.

This article originally appeared in VG’s November 2023 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.