A father’s love • A lifetime of support
Aaron “Max”
Hopper
A retired Navy Vietnam veteran, machinist, and devoted father who stood behind every path Shaun chose to pursue.
01 / He was always there
A father who
believed in every dream.
Shaun remembers his father through a simple truth: he supported every endeavor the family decided to pursue. Max was the steady presence behind the music—the man Shaun missed deeply, played his guitar for, and promised always to stand up for.
“He. Was. Always. There.”
Aaron Maxwell Hopper served in the Navy during Vietnam and worked as a machinist. To Shaun he was something larger and more personal: his dear father, the man whose loyalty and example stayed with him long after childhood.
02 / Music carried forward
The stories
inside every song.
Shaun planned to honor his father the way he knew best: through free concerts, guitar, and the stories that made Max who he was. “Proud Mary” was his favorite song. An Officer and a Gentleman was his favorite movie.
Years later, Shaun carried that love into one of the largest performances of his career, dedicating his Deep Purple and Kansas appearance to Max and to their South Georgia roots.
Watch Shaun's live tribute to Max“I play my guitar for my dad.”