Dating & Relationship status

In 1994, Larry Rudolph of the New York firm of Rudolph & Beer, which represented the Hopkins estate, announced that 18 of his songs were found and were open for a recording deal. Circa 2000, award-winning documentarian Mark Stanoch secured the rights to Hopkins’ music and story for a biopic potentially starring Ethan Hawke, but plans stalled.

As the Gin Blossoms experienced mounting success performing songs he had written, Hopkins became increasingly despondent. Although he had always dreamed of having a gold record, when he received one (for the song “Hey Jealousy”), he hung it up for two weeks before taking it down and then destroying it. Nine days later, during an intake consultation in the detox unit of Phoenix’s St. Luke’s Hospital, Hopkins snuck out and bought a .38 caliber pistol. The next day, December 5, 1993, Hopkins died by suicide.

Hopkins was resistant to signing to a major label, feeling like its property, and reacted with stubbornness and more drinking. When the band recorded its second studio album New Miserable Experience in February 1992, it was reported that Hopkins was unable to stand during his recording sessions. Faced with the prospect of firing Hopkins or being dropped by A&M, the band terminated Hopkins. Doused in aftershave and mouthwash to cover the effects of his days-long drinking binge, he was flown back to Arizona.

Hopkins had suffered from chronic depression since childhood and had been battling alcoholism for several years. However, in 1990, the Gin Blossoms were one of the hottest local bands in Tempe and the surrounding areas, and they signed a contract with A&M Records.

Hopkins graduated from Arizona State in 1985 with a degree in sociology. By 1987, the two played well enough to start the Gin Blossoms, and in 1988, Jesse Valenzuela (Hopkins’ skateboarding friend) and Phillip Rhodes signed on as the band’s second guitarist and drummer, respectively. Robin Wilson, the band’s eventual lead singer, joined in 1988 as well.

Hopkins grew up in Seattle, Washington and raised in Tempe, Arizona. He graduated from Tempe’s McClintock High School in 1979, and two years later, while attending ASU, he formed his first rock band with Bill Leen. Hopkins was the guitarist and Leen the bassist, although neither knew how to play the instruments.

Douglas Owen “Doug” Hopkins (April 11, 1961 – December 5, 1993) was an American musician and songwriter. He co-founded the Gin Blossoms, a popular modern rock band of the early 1990s, with Richard Taylor. He was the band’s lead guitarist and a principal songwriter.