Ricky Hopkins began playing tenor saxophone at the age of 11. Seeking an opportunity to further improve, Hopkins attended the world renowned Hamilton High School Academy of Music in 1999 and was a member of its award winning jazz ensembles. He performed at the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival in 2002 and 2003, taking top tenor saxophone soloist honors in the national high school competition in 2003. In October 2005, Hopkins was beaten in an unprovoked hate crime, sustaining injuries to his mouth. Doctors told him to shelf his beloved saxophone to avoid additional injury. After two months, Hopkins picked up his saxophone, rejoining his college big band just days before a school concert. He graduated with a B.M. from the University of California at Irvine in 2007 under the tutelage of pianist Kei Akagi, Miles Davis's last keyboardist.

At 35 years old, Hopkins has a reputation as an extremely energetic and versatile musician. He was most recently seen as a member of the Ontario, California based band Groovesession, and has played previously with OC rock band Sixstep. He currently leads Ricky Hopkins and The Urban Band. As a sideman, Hopkins has performed with a wide range of musicians of various musical genres, including: country singer/guitarist Billy Ray Cyrus, guitarist Zane Carney (John Mayer), legendary jazz vocalists Ernie Andrews & Barbara Morrison, Dr. Bobby Rodriguez, saxophonist Rickey Woodard, saxophonist Justo Almario, the legendary multi-reedist Charles Owens, trombonist/composer Joey Sellers, Jose Riso's Jazz on the Latin Side All Stars and many, many others.  Hopkins has also recorded with: Hamilton High School Jazz Ensemble A (2003), Sixstep (A Dangerous World-2008, Middle Ground EP-2010, House of Cards-2012), JP and the Supercats (2011), producer duo Rob Pray and Kalby(2014).

As a solo artist, Hopkins has written and produced five albums: "The Quarter Life" in 2014, "Untold Stories" in 2015,  "Voices” in 2016, “The Story of Julian” in 2017, and his most recent album, “Alter Ego”, on Martin Luther King Day.

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