John Driskell Hopkins Explains Why His Cover of ‘Let It Go’ Resonated with His ALS Diagnosis (Exclusive)

John Driskell Hopkins embraces the holiday season.

On Tuesday, the Zac Brown Band member released his fourth holiday album, Let’s go Frosty, in collaboration with Yacht Rock Revue. Speaking to PEOPLE about the release, Hopkins revealed why his cover of “Let It Go” — joined for the first time by his daughter Lily Faith, 11 — is meaningful to him.

“‘Let It Go’ is a wintery kind of song, but it’s not necessarily a holiday song. It’s associated with winter conditions and icy magic, and that’s why we were looking for the ultimate real impetus for the record, and it’s not something that immediately comes to mind, but the whole vibe of the album is wintertime,” Hopkins, 52, tells PEOPLE exclusively.

After being diagnosed with ALS in December 2021, the lyrics about finding strength spoke to him.

John Driskell Hopkins.

Photo by Jolie Loren

Zac Brown’s John Driskell Hopkins on staying strong amid ALS diagnosis: ‘I’m ready to fight this’

“The lyrics have some dark brooding, everything is really hard now [feeling]. The second verse is like, ‘I’m going to find my strength,’ [and] it really resonated with my ALS diagnosis, which was very fresh at the time,” he explains.

Adding: “Then [Lily] Faith, who is one of the characters in the song, comes up to her unicorn with a magic wand and says, ‘Let it go.’ She is the ice princess fairy that brings peace of mind and in many similar ways, my family does that for me, bringing me peace and support. So fitting that a dark brooding father is actually saved by his child.”

Hopkins and his wife Jennifer have three daughters – Sarah Grace (15) and twins Lily Faith and Margaret Hope (11).

Lily Faith and John Driskell Hopkins.

Photo by Jolie Loren

Speaking to PEOPLE about her first collaboration with her father, Faith says the experience was “really fun.”

“I want to shoot with him more,” she says, adding that her favorite part about the holidays is that Hopkins is “home for the holidays.”

Hopkins’ idea to release Christmas music began in 2015 when he found a video of his 6-year-old singing Christmas carols. Still planning to release more!

The 12-track album includes a previously released single featuring Debby Boone called “Snow.” It also includes a tropical twist on “White Christmas” with Amos Lee and a groovy version of “Sleigh Ride.”

As the holidays approach, Hopkins can’t wait to present his children’s Christmas morning finds, his wife’s sausage biscuits and the family’s white elephant exchange.

Let’s Get Frosty Cover Art. Zac Brown’s John Driskell Hopkins on ‘Day by Day’ ALS Diagnosis and Inspiring Others (Exclusive)

In the new year, Hopkins will tour with the Zac Brown Band and continue to raise money for his Hop on a Cure Foundation.

“It’s been amazing and we’ve only scratched the surface. We need to raise so much more money and get it out the door as fast as it comes in. I’m very blessed to be making slow progress, but I’m still making progress,” he says. “So it’s important to me to find new treatments, and for so many other people it is important to find changes and a cure. So we’re doing everything we can to raise awareness and spread the word.”

As for his health, Hopkins says he’s feeling “pretty good” and is considering “alternative therapies just to make me feel better and move more.” Two years after his diagnosis, however, Hopkins hasn’t lost his love for the holidays.

After all, “Santa brought me my first electric guitar.”

Let’s go Frosty it’s out now.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education