The country music superstar revealed his diagnosis in May.
The Zac Brown Band’s John Driskell Hopkins is sharing how his battle with ALS is personally impacting his family. In May, the 51-year-old guitarist of the country band announced that he had been diagnosed with ALS -- also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease -- which affects the nervous system.
During an interview with CBS Mornings on Wednesday, John was joined by his wife, Jennifer Hopkins, where they discussed day-to-day life with his illness.
"We were crying three times a day," the musician said about his and Jen’s reaction after finding out his diagnosis in 2021. "I was just like, 'I need to figure out what this means.'"
"Something like this never crossed our minds,” Jen added. "It was, 'You’re about to turn 50. It was losing some weight.' It was, everything else."
John shared that he felt something was wrong when he noticed that he couldn’t do a “double time” strum on his guitar. Following a round of tests, he was diagnosed late last year.
The “Chicken Fried” singer said he is administered daily treatments from his wife and became emotional as he talked about how much support she has offered him.
"I worry about, what it means to her," he said through tears. "'Cause I don’t want to ruin her adult life. This is the most beautiful woman in the world, she could find anyone tomorrow. But I don’t want to burden this one."
Jen added, "He's my life. He’s my life. Him and my girls. And he’s got so much to give. Truly the stars aligned for us to be together and were meant to go through this together. Whatever that brings, whatever that means, this is our story."
The musician is putting his focus on living for his and Jen’s three daughters, Grace, Hope and Faith. With the use of technology and the help of Voice Making, John is recording messages for his daughters to hear in the future, should he lose complete control of his body due to his illness.
"I as a father, don’t know what they need yet," he said about the preparations. "And want to be there. I want to impart some wisdom that I think they can probably use later."
John is also working on music dedicated to his wife and their daughters.
"I got three that I'm working on that are all in different ways directly related to what I'm going through," he said. "I was writing a song, 'Simply I Love You Forever,' to Jen and to the babies, haven't’ finished it, can’t finish it."
There is no cure for ALS. However, John has created the Hop on a Cure Foundation to raise money for research for the unpredictable illness.
"I’m not a scientist, I'm not going to be the one with the test tubes and the research," he said about his foundation. "I’m someone who has a platform that can explain, 'I can’t play guitar like I used to. I might not be able to sing one day.' If I have an opportunity to spread the word that way, then that’s my responsibility."
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