Jerry Hopkins was born Elisha Gerald Hopkins in Camden, New Jersey on November 9, 1935. He received a bachelor's degree from Washington and Lee University and a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. He wrote for The Twin-City Sentinel in Winston-Salem, The Village Voice in New York, and The Times-Picayune in New Orleans. In the early 1960s he was a writer-producer for PM East, a television talk show hosted by Mike Wallace, and a talent booker for the syndicated Steve Allen Show.
In 1966, Hopkins and a partner opened Headquarters, a shop that sold drug paraphernalia in Los Angeles. He was also writing freelance articles for various publications when he responded to a 1967 ad in an early issue of Rolling Stone asking for submissions of music reviews. He became a music writer for Rolling Stone magazine and became the magazine's London correspondent in 1972. He wrote for Rolling Stone for about 20 years. He wrote several biographies of musicians including Elvis: A Biography, No One Here Gets Out Alive with Danny Sugerman, and Behind Closed Doors.
He also wrote books and articles about exotic food, sex, travel, hula, and Hawaiian musical instruments. His memoir, The Ultimate Fish, was published in 2014 and focuses on his relationship with a transgender prostitute. He died of heart failure on June 3, 2018 at the age of 82.
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