Mark Knopfler premieres Guitar Heroes remake of 'Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)'

Dire Straits legend Mark Knopfler premiered the all-star remake of 'Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)' at his beloved Newcastle United’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday (2nd March).

The original version of Mark Knopfler’s 1983 instrumental track ‘Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)’ is a Newcastle United anthem and it’s played at every home game at St James’ Park.

More than four decades on, Knopfler has drafted in over 60 iconic musicians from the rock world for the charity remake under the collective moniker of Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes.

Guitarists that perform on the new version of the track include Jeff Beck (his final studio recording), Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, The Who’s Pete Townshend, Queen’s Brian May, Peter Frampton and Rush’s Alex Lifeson.

Prior to its official release on Friday 15th March, the songwas given a preview to the 52,000 fans at St James’ Park over the weekend, and Mark Knopfler proudly walked onto the pitch during its unveiling.

Watch Local Hero get a rapturous reception at St James' Park:

The premiere proved to be a good luck omen with Newcastle comfortably winning the match 3 - 0.

Proceeds from the remake of 'Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)' are being donated to Teenage Cancer Trust and its American equivalent Teen Cancer America.

Listen to a preview of Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes’ 'Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)':

Commenting on the reception at St James’ Park on Saturday, Mark Knopfler said: “That reception for the new version of ‘Going Home’ from the Newcastle fans was something that will live with me forever.

“I can’t tell you what it means to me for the song to be so integral to this region. It’s a fantastic thing, it’s something I can be proud of forever. I’ve tried to get people to imagine what it’s like. It’s a tremendous feeling to be in St James Park when it plays.”

Newcastle United defender and lifelong Magpies fan Dan Burn added: "Local Hero has been a song that I've listened to all my life and means so much to me on so many levels, whether as a fan or player.

"When I was young my dad used to play Local Hero at breakfast and it instantly made me think of St. James' Park and the excitement of going to games. Whenever I hear the song it has so many memories, from seeing huge wins and European nights under Sir Bobby Robson to now, being able to walk out to the iconic anthem is a 'pinch me' moment every time. I know what this song means to people in the region and everybody will be buzzing to hear the version."

On Friday night, an event was held at the club which raised £110,000 for the charities, with Newcastle great Alan Shearer interviewing Mark on stage and an auction of the guitars, artwork and more.

Fabled pop artist Sir Peter Blake (The Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’, The Who’s ‘WHO’ and ‘Face Dances’, Live Aid, Paul Weller’s ‘Stanley Road’) has designed the artwork for ‘Going Home (Theme From Local Hero).’

Physical formats of ‘Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)’ will be available on CD, 12” with etched B-side and deluxe CD+BluRay, including sleeve notes by Paul Sexton, and digital formats include a Dolby Atmos mix.

You can pre-order the track HERE.

In late January, Mark Knopfler’s vast 122-strong guitar collection fetched a whopping £8,840,160 under the hammer at Christie’s in London.

Twenty-five percent of the total hammer price was divided equally and donated to charities that Mark Knopfler has supported for many years: the British Red Cross, Tusk and Brave Hearts of the North East.

The Teenage Cancer Trust received all of the £403,200 raised from Knopfler’s 2021 Gibson Les Paul “gold top” guitar – 20 times the lower estimate. The guitar was signed by 33 musicians, many of whom performed on ‘Going Home (Theme From Local Hero).’

The full list of contributors on ‘Going Home (Theme From Local Hero)’:

Joan Armatrading, Jeff Beck, Richard Bennett, Joe Bonamassa, Joe Brown, James Burton, Jonathan Cain, Paul Carrack, Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, Jim Cox, Steve Cropper, Sheryl Crow, Danny Cummings, Roger Daltrey, Duane Eddy, Sam Fender, Guy Fletcher, Peter Frampton, Audley Freed, Vince Gill, David Gilmour, Buddy Guy, Keiji Haino, Tony Iommi, Joan Jett, John Jorgenson, Mark Knopfler, Sonny Landreth, Albert Lee, Greg Leisz, Alex Lifeson, Steve Lukather, Phil Manzanera, Dave Mason, Hank Marvin, Brian May, Robbie McIntosh, John McLaughlin, Tom Morello, Rick Nielsen, Orianthi, Brad Paisley, Nile Rodgers, Mike Rutherford, Joe Satriani, John Sebastian, Connor Selby, Slash, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and Zak Starkey, Sting, Andy Taylor, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Ian Thomas, Pete Townshend, Keith Urban, Steve Vai, Waddy Wachtel, Joe Louis Walker, Joe Walsh, Ronnie Wood, Glenn Worf, Zucchero.

The greatest guitar solos of all time:

Listen to Planet Rock on DAB nationwide, on our free app, online and via your smart speaker (“Play Planet Rock”).

• dire straits
• mark knopfler