Nicholas Christian Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins recorded and performed on many notable British and American pop and rock music releases from the 1960s through the 1990s including many songs by The Rolling Stones, The Kinksand The Who.

Nicholas Christian Hopkins was born in Perivale, Middlesex, England, on 24 February 1944. He began playing the piano at the age of three. He attended Sudbury Primary School in Perrin Road and Wembley County Grammar School, which now forms part of Alperton Community School, and was initially tutored by a local piano teacher; in his teens he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London. He suffered from Crohn’s disease for most of his life.

Hopkins played with the Rolling Stones on all their studio albums from Between the Buttons in 1967 through Tattoo You in 1981, excepting for Some Girls (1978). Among his contributions, he supplied the prominent piano parts on “We Love You” and “She’s a Rainbow” (both 1967), “Sympathy for the Devil” and “No Expectations” (1968), “Monkey Man” (1969), “Sway” (1971), “Loving Cup” and “Ventilator Blues” (1972), “Angie” (1973), “Time Waits for No One” (1974) and “Waiting on a Friend” (recorded 1972, released in 1981). When working with the band during their critical and commercial zenith in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Hopkins tended to be employed on a wide range of slower ballads, uptempo rockers and acoustic material; conversely, longtime de factoStones keyboardist Ian Stewart only played on traditional major key blues rock numbers of his choice, while Billy Preston often featured on soul- and funk-influenced tunes. Hopkins’ work with the Rolling Stones is perhaps most prominent on their 1972 studio album, Exile on Main St., where he contributed in a variety of musical styles.

Along with Ry Cooder, Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, Hopkins released the 1972 album Jamming with Edward! It was recorded in 1969, during the Stones’ Let It Bleed sessions, when guitarist Keith Richards was not present in the studio. The eponymous “Edward” was an alias of Nicky Hopkins derived from studio banter with Brian Jones. It was incorporated into the title of an outstanding Hopkins instrumental performance (“Edward, the Mad Shirt Grinder”) released on Shady Grove in December 1969. Hopkins also contributed to the Jamming With Edward! cover art.

Hopkins was added to the Rolling Stones touring line-up for the 1971 Good-Bye Britain Tour, as well as the 1972 North American tour and the 1973 Pacific tour. He contemplated forming his own band with multi-instrumentalist Pete Sears and drummer Prairie Prince around this time but decided against it after the Stones tour. Hopkins failed to make the Rolling Stones’ 1973 European tourdue to ill health and, aside from a guest appearance in 1978, did not play again with the Stones live on stage.