Gin Blossoms: The Tragic Story of the Band & The Death Of Doug Hopkins, Band Behind "Hey Jealousy'

Gin Blossoms: The tragic story of the band and the death of guitarist Doug Hopkins

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0:00 - Early Years
2:43 - New Miserable Experience
7:22 - Doug Hopkins Death
9:02- Long lasting success
10:07 - Congratulations, I'm Sorry
13:45 - Breakup.Reunion

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#ginblossom #doughopkins #heyjealousy

I cite my sources and they may differ than other people's accounts, so I don't guarantee the actual accuracy of my videos.

Gin Blossoms were a staple of the 90’s music
scene. The band’s history is intertwined

with luck, patience and great tragedy. Today
let’s explore whatever happened to the Gin

Blossoms

Hailing from tempe, Arizona, the LA Times would state
the following about Gin Blossoms on a 1993

profile about the band.

“Let’s face it, Tempe, Arizona., is notexactly
a thriving rock ‘n’ roll mecca.

It seems more like one of those places that
a budding rock band leaves, then later reminisces

about for its boring but lovable qualities.”

Gin Blossoms were born and raised on R.E.M.,
Tom Petty, Cheap Trick, and the Replacements,

which offered a stark contrast to the other
popular bands of the early 90’s who were

fed a healthy diet of punk rock, metal and groups
like The Pixies. Gin Blossoms married

joyful sounding melodies with young adult
anxieties. Hailing from Tempe Arizona, Gin

Blossoms first formed in 1987 thanks to a
Tower Records store in the city, where frontman

Robin Wilson and bassist Bill Leen both worked.
Initially first lineup consisted of Gin Blossoms had guitarists Jesse Valenzuela as the lead vocalist before Robin WIlson took over. Back in the lae 80's it was pretty common for club owners to hire bands who mostly played covers. TO satisfy club owners The Gin Blossoms would adop the alter

ego Del Montes whose plan it was to play cover
tunes at clubs around the city and earn some

money while they would also be writing their own
original material. Soon enough the sets The

Gin Blossoms were playing around the city of tempe didn’t stra too far
from the Del Montes. THe del montes would most famously play
television show theme songs
including the Jeffersons Movin on up. By 1988 Gin Blossoms developed a name around
town and became one of the hottest acts in

the City. In both 1988 and 1989 The Phoenix
New Times newspaper named the band

The Best of Phoenix. Soon enough other press
outlets outside of Tempe picked up on them

with the College Music Journal referring to
them as and i quote “The Best Unsigned Band

In America in 1989. The same year the group
played a showcase at the south by southwest

festival and soon enough,
they put out their self funded debut record

Dusted the same year. The band also started playing
outside of Tempe heading to Austin and playing

at the south by southwest showcase, while
also playing in clubs in Los Angeles including

Raji’s, Club Lingerie and the Coconut Teazer.
They would eventually attract the attention

of A&M records in 1990,

While the band should’ve been celebrating their success, guitarist
Doug Hopkins was not. Having suffered from

severe depression from a young age he was
against signing with a major label feeling

pressure to deliver and also feeling like
someone else’s property. His drinking would

only escalate once the band signed a smajor
recording contract.. According to Rolling

Stone magazine hopkins would frequently showed up intoxicatedat
gigs, while band practices resulted in verbal

screaming machines. The band first convened
in Los Angeles in 1991 to record their major

label debut but
it was a complete disaster. The group spent

close to $100,000 and had nothing to show
for it and were almost dropped by their label.

Frontman Robin Wilson would tell Rolling Stone
,“We were a fragile mess. We were all just

treading water trying to make the record.
We knew this was our last chance. It was an

intense experience on every level" he'd remember.
During a a separate interview with billboard

magazine he also credited the band’s label
with helping turn things around letting them release an EP titled up and crumbling and touring a
bit revealing “they gave us a chance to

succeed or fail to learn about the studio
and toughen up”. As the band attempted to take

a second stab at their first LP for A&M recordthey
chose a different producer and location. The band would move from LAto memphis and that’s not to say