By Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today | In the three and a half years since John Driskell Hopkins was diagnosed with ALS, his voice has slowed a beat and he struggles with balance, often using a walking stick to navigate airports and snaking backstage hallways.
But, he says with an optimistic lilt, “compared to a lot of people, I’m doing great.”
He wiggles his fingers on a video call from a dressing room in Cincinnati, where the Zac Brown Band will play that night, to show “they still work.”
Hopkins, 54, has long circled among guitar, bass, banjo and ukulele in the group, which has adapted to any changes he’s needed to make to keep his vocal or guitar parts.
“I’m hoping to be out there as long as I can. Sometimes I feel like (performing) gives me more inspiration to keep going,” he says.
Though Hopkins’ form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease – is progressing slowly as it attacks his upper motor neurons that primarily affect the brain, he is accepting of a diagnosis with a lifespan that doesn’t often extend past five years.
> > > > > > > > > Read more about Mr. Hopkins’ future here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/after-als-diagnosis-zac-brown-band-member-pens-honest-ballad-for-his-daughters/
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: After ALS diagnosis, Zac Brown Band member pens honest ballad for his daughters
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2025/05/23/john-driskell-hopkins-als-song-zac-brown-band/83753107007/