Remembering Nicky Hopkins: Perivale Celebrates Its Legendary Session Musician

 

Honoring the Man Whose Piano Helped Define an Era

Pianist Nicky Hopkins was famed throughout the rock and roll world from the 1960s to the early 1990s as the most iconic and influential session musician of the era. In a time when Mick Jagger and the Beatles were in the headlines, Nicky was on the piano, shaping the sound of some of the era’s most famous recordings with his keyboard. In 2026, his hometown of Perivale in the Borough of Ealing honored their native son with a piano room dedicated to his memory.

There could be no more appropriate memorial than a piano room, reflecting his lifelong devotion to the instrument. This tribute to Nicky is located in the Pear Tree Park Bistro, an intimate eatery on the outskirts of Pear Tree Park in Perivale. On January 25, 2026, this bistro opened the doors of the Nicky Hopkins Piano Room to the community. The Bistro welcomed local Councillor Tariq Mahmood, along with the Mayor of Ealing, who cut the ribbon inaugurating this memorial.

After members of the community heard speeches and stories honoring Nicky, they were treated to music played in Nicky’s style by Paddy Milner, a fellow session pianist.

Nicky may not have been in the headlines like the musicians he supported, but those headliners knew his value. Time after time, Nicky would be brought into the studio to accompany a well-known band and end up crafting a new richness and texture for the band’s music.

“Nicky Hopkins was one of the most popular session piano players. Whatever song you wanted, he could play it.”—Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger himself explained how this could happen: “Nicky Hopkins was one of the most popular session piano players. Whatever song you wanted, he could play it. You tell him once how the song went, and he would come up with some incredible line, very quickly. I mean that’s what he did, you know. You played your song, and then he took it and then it just sounded like 10 times better…he transformed a lot of those songs into what they really are, almost as much as the bands themselves.”

 

Nicky grew up in Perivale and then went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Starting in the mid-1960s, Nicky began his session work by accompanying The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Beatles, Donovan, Joe Cocker and Jefferson Airplane. By the late ’60s, he was recognized within the industry as an elite session musician. He later worked with Jerry Garcia, Rod Stewart, Cat Stevens, the Steve Miller Band, Jeff Beck and many others.

“Then I heard about and entered the Narconon program… I wanted help and Narconon gave it. I am now completely free of the desire to take drugs.”—Nicky Hopkins

By 1968, the rock and roll world was awash in drug abuse, and Nicky was caught up in this phenomenon. He became addicted and stayed that way until his drug use threatened to end his life. He stated, “I began using drugs in 1968. For a while it seemed I had found the magic key to life. Over the years, however, my life and my music became increasingly damaged. I tried a few times to clean up, but with no success…Then I heard about and entered the Narconon program… I wanted help and Narconon gave it. I am now completely free of the desire to take drugs.”

His success with the Narconon drug rehabilitation program gave him many more productive years as a session musician.

In 1994, the music world lost this genius whose piano helped define rock and roll’s distinctive rhythm and sound. Anyone who has ever rocked out to the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” or The Beatles’ “Revolution” has experienced Nicky Hopkins’ brilliance firsthand. Though Nicky is no longer with us, his legacy is remembered in Perivale and at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, into which he was posthumously inducted in 2025. He was also the subject of a documentary titled The Session Man, released in 2023.

Nicky Hopkins’ name will always be remembered in Perivale, where newcomers to his music can be reminded of the quiet brilliance that defined so many of rock and roll’s greatest recordings.