The poignant new song is dedicated to daughters around his ALS diagnosis
Founding member of Zac Brown Band and three-time Grammy Award winning artist John Driskell Hopkins releases the moving single and video for “I Love You Forever.” This new song, written and performed by Hopkins and fellow Zac Brown Band member Clay Cook, is a moving tribute to Hopkins’ three daughters. Infused with his signature baritone, Hopkins’ emotive lyrics create a remarkable, timeless glimpse of parental love and devotion.
“I Love You Forever” is the first sentiment Hopkins was inspired to share with his young daughters when he was diagnosed with ALS in December 2021. Hop says, “I’m trying to tell them fatherly things about situations that we haven’t been in yet, so I’m looking toward this future that I don’t understand and trying to get ahead of it. What I want for them to understand is that this is bigger than me. This thing that binds us and that keeps us together as a family never goes away. I want them to know that I will be with them forever.”
ALS is currently incurable and has a two-to-five year life expectancy from diagnosis. Hopkins considers himself fortunate, however, that his progression has been slow and he is still able to write, record, and perform with Zac Brown Band. Embracing the motto, “life is good today,” Hopkins has been on four globe-spanning tours over the last four years with the band since his diagnosis.
Hopkins is committed to using his platform to fund research for a cure for ALS. In 2022 he and his wife Jennifer formed the foundation Hop On A Cure, which has, so far, donated over 4.1 million in ALS research grants.
Hopkins became a founding member of Zac Brown Band (ZBB) in 2005 as a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. Songwriting credits on hit songs include “Toes,” “It’s Not Ok,” and “Sic Em On A Chicken” from the triple-platinum selling record The Foundation, as well as “Nothing,” “I Play The Road,” and “Settle Me Down” from the platinum selling record You Get What You Give. Hopkins also co-wrote “Goodbye In Her Eyes” from Zac Brown Band’s third platinum album, Uncaged, which was the band’s ninth Billboard No. 1 single.
