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, .
Hopkins, or 鈥淗op,鈥� also continues to write music. In May, he released the song 鈥淚 Love You Forever,鈥� which was inspired by his diagnosis.
鈥淚 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,鈥� Hopkins said. 鈥淚鈥檝e got three girls, and we are very aware that my progression is slow, and it could change any time.鈥�
How do your daughters even begin to process the fact that their dad is sick?
鈥淲e took this opportunity to tell them, probably three months into the diagnosis, and they really reacted like champions. They asked all the hard questions: 鈥楥ould you die? Could you be in a wheelchair?鈥� And the answers are all 鈥榶es,鈥� and we said, 鈥業鈥檓 feeling good right now, and we鈥檙e going to take advantage of every moment that we have.鈥�
What is it like to have a musical platform to talk to your children in this way?
鈥淚t 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.鈥�
When you鈥檙e writing these songs, do you picture them listening to this, years down the road, when they鈥檙e maybe your age, after you鈥檙e gone?
鈥淎bsolutely. And that鈥檚 why I don鈥檛 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 鈥楨ach Other,鈥� you know, the kinder, gentler Hop.鈥�
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?
鈥淪ometimes 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.
鈥淚 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鈥檚 very helpful to know that I have this incredible support system.
鈥淏ut the actual act of singing is like breathing to me. I鈥檝e been doing it since I was 3 years old, and I don鈥檛 know myself without my voice, so I鈥檓 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.鈥�
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?
鈥淲ell, we have started writing down a bucket list. I think everyone has one, no matter how long you think you鈥檙e gonna be on the planet.
鈥淏ut in terms of writing material, I am trying to write songs with the energy in the band and in the music because I can鈥檛 bring as much energy to the performance vocally as I used to, so I鈥檓 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 鈥� My wife and I went to Paris and to Lourdes, France, where the healing waters of St. Bernadette are continuing to flow. And we鈥檙e doing all kinds of bucket list items as we can afford and as they come up.鈥�
This interview was edited for clarity.
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produced and edited this interview for broadcast with . Tamagawa also adapted it for the web.
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