John Driskell Hopkins is a founding member of the Grammy-winning Zac Brown Band. In December 2021, he was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS. Hopkins continues to tour with the band, and with his wife, started the ALS foundation, Hop on A Cure.
Hopkins, or “Hop,” also continues to write music. In May, he released the song “I Love You Forever,” which was inspired by his diagnosis.
“I was diagnosed on Dec. 22, 2021, and I started writing that song that night, just going through all the thoughts in my head about the things that I could miss out on if this thing speeds up or takes me out,” Hopkins said. “I’ve got three girls, and we are very aware that my progression is slow, and it could change any time.”
How do your daughters even begin to process the fact that their dad is sick?
“We took this opportunity to tell them, probably three months into the diagnosis, and they really reacted like champions. They asked all the hard questions: ‘Could you die? Could you be in a wheelchair?’ And the answers are all ‘yes,’ and we said, ‘I’m feeling good right now, and we’re going to take advantage of every moment that we have.”
What is it like to have a musical platform to talk to your children in this way?
“It does make it somewhat easier because this is the way I communicate with the world. So, I have a great deal of experience in putting my thoughts and emotions to music, and they will have something to look back on forever.”
When you’re writing these songs, do you picture them listening to this, years down the road, when they’re maybe your age, after you’re gone?
“Absolutely. And that’s why I don’t show them some of my earlier material. They would hear daddy say naughty words. And when they have stumbled upon my angrier, aggressive alternative music, they have kind of smiled because daddy sings songs like ‘Each Other,’ you know, the kinder, gentler Hop.”
The life of a touring musician is grueling work. Does getting on stage and making music help you, or do you find that at times your symptoms are starting to get in the way?
“Sometimes I feel like the act of playing is one of the things that allows me to continue to play, just getting up every day and putting my feet on the floor and going on stage in front of 20,000, 40,000 people and getting that energy back from the crowd.
“I see lots of blue shirts in the audience with the Hop on a Cure logo, and I know that people are cheering me on, and it’s very helpful to know that I have this incredible support system.
“But the actual act of singing is like breathing to me. I’ve been doing it since I was 3 years old, and I don’t know myself without my voice, so I’m hanging on for dear life here. And I do think the act of performing is such a big part of who I am that continuing to be able to do it does help me on a day-to-day basis.”
As you hang on through this serious terminal illness, how are you seeing life differently or leading your life differently, knowing that you have only a certain amount of time left?
“Well, we have started writing down a bucket list. I think everyone has one, no matter how long you think you’re gonna be on the planet.
“But in terms of writing material, I am trying to write songs with the energy in the band and in the music because I can’t bring as much energy to the performance vocally as I used to, so I’m adapting. But it is a challenge, and going forward, we have things that we want to see, like the northern lights in Norway or Iceland … My wife and I went to Paris and to Lourdes, France, where the healing waters of St. Bernadette are continuing to flow. And we’re doing all kinds of bucket list items as we can afford and as they come up.”
This interview was edited for clarity.
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Emiko Tamagawa produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Michael Scotto. Tamagawa also adapted it for the web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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