Dire Straits Mark Knopfler's official website
 Brothers in Arms was released in 1985 and went on to become the biggest selling album in the UK of that year and a huge hit internationally. It spawned several chart singles, including the U.S. number one hit Money for Nothing, which was the first video ever to be played on MTV in Britain. There were further personnel changes, with the addition of a second keyboardist, Guy Fletcher. Brothers in Arms also saw the departure of Hal Lindes from the band during the recording sessions. His place was taken by Jack Sonni, though Lindes was still credited as an official band member for the album's release, while Sonni was not. Terry Williams was also joined on drums by Omar Hakim: both are credited as band members for this release.
The 1985–86 world tour was phenomenally successful. While playing a 13-night residency at Wembley Arena, the band moved down the road to Wembley Stadium on the afternoon of 13 July 1985 to appear in Live Aid. Their set included Money For Nothing with Sting as guest vocalist. The tour ended at the Entertainment Centre in Sydney, Australia, where Dire Straits still holds the record for consecutive appearances (21 nights). The last show of this extended stay in Sydney was recorded and broadcast on Australian and New Zealand television, and is well known for the one-off calypso rendition of So Far Away and the band's impromptu attempt at the famous Australian folk song Waltzing Matilda. In a two-year span, Dire Straits played 247 shows in over 100 different cities.
The commercial success of Brothers in Arms was greatly aided by being one of the first fully digitally recorded and produced albums available in the then new Compact Disc format, leading early adopters of the new technology to consider it a must buy album in a limited landscape of available music in CD format. The Brothers in Arms CD was one of the first CD albums to contain material not found on the LP equivalent; it featured the 12 single of Money for Nothing rather than the 7 version on the LP. Brothers in Arms is also reported to be the world's first CD single, issued in the UK in two separate singles as a promotional item, one distinguished with a logo for the tour, Live in '85, and a second to commemorate the Australian leg of the tour marked Live in '86. Containing just four tracks, it had a very limited print run. Furthermore, the new format offered an excellent showcase for Knopfler's meticulous production values on the earlier albums, leading many existing fans to repurchase the whole back catalogue.
Brothers in Arms was successful in the U.S., peaking at No. 1 on Billboard magazine's Top Pop Albums Chart for nine weeks, going multi-platinum, and finishing at No. 5 for 1986. Also, in a recent poll conducted in the UK it was found that Brothers in Arms is the third-best selling album there of all time.
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