Tony Hawk's 4 Kids: All About Riley, Spencer, Keegan and Kadence
Tony Hawk is a father to sons Riley, Spencer and Keegan, and daughter Kadence
Tony Hawk is one proud father!
The legendary skateboarder has four children: He welcomed his first child, son Riley, in 1992, followed by sons Spencer in 1999 and Keegan in 2001. Tony had his fourth child and first daughter, Kadence, seven years later.
While participating in Vogue's "73 Questions" series in 2019, Tony shared the values he hoped to instill in his children. “I hope I’ve taught them the value of perseverance, of believing in yourself and creating your own path in life,” he said. “I feel like they all have a pretty good sense of their limitations ... They have a better sense of their limitations than I do.”
Tony has also opened up about the struggles of raising his family during his progressing career, including in his 2022 documentary Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off. In 2008, he told Success that he realized he had to learn to say no to projects because being present with his kids was too important.
“Being emotionally supportive to my children is most important to me,” Tony said. “It’s not just the time together, but the way we spend that time. Sometimes, I have to say no to a good project because I value my time with my family very much.”
And while only one of his sons — Riley — has pursued skateboarding professionally, they've all picked up the sport. In 2017, Tony told GQ of his oldest son "... even at my demos, skaters come up to me all the time and say, 'Dude! Riley's sick!' They're not excited to see me. They're excited to see someone connected to Riley."
Here’s everything to know about Tony Hawk’s four kids, Riley, Spencer, Keegan and Kadence.
Riley Hawk, 30
Tony and his then-wife Cindy Dunbar welcomed their son Hudson Riley Hawk, who goes by Riley, on Dec. 6, 1992, in Carlsbad, California. During a 2019 appearance on The Nine Club with Chris Roberts podcast, Riley revealed that his parents started calling him by his middle name because “they were over” people referencing the 1991 movie Hudson Hawk starring Bruce Willis.
As Tony's first child, Riley has experienced several milestones in the skateboard legend's life and career, from Tony's life before fame to his four marriages.
“Riley was with me through all of my relationships and challenges and turmoil. Riley had a rough upbringing with a lot of different co-parents and half siblings,” Tony said in his 2022 documentary. “And he just went along with it, because he didn’t — obviously he didn’t have a choice.”
Riley has followed in his father's footsteps as a professional skateboarder. Riley even referred to skateboarding as part of his identity during a 2017 interview with GQ, saying, “I just feel like I have to keep doing this no matter what. It’s who I am.”
However, despite their similar occupation, the father and son have completely different styles of skateboarding. Tony is more of a vertical skater who rides ramps to do tricks in the air, whereas Riley is a street skater, spending more time doing tricks on ground level and using the environment around him. And while Riley may bear the Hawk name, Tony told GQ that this made it harder for him to carve his own path in the skateboarding world.
“Early on there were claims of nepotism and people saying Riley’s got it easy because I’m his father, but it was the opposite,” Tony shared. “It would have been way easier for him to go in a different direction, but everyone eventually saw that he has this super creative and out-of-the-box way of skating.”
Aside from skateboarding, Riley is a model, lead singer of a punk band and founder of coffee shop brand Steel Mill. He also has his own signature shoe with Lakai.
In October 2023, he married Frances Bean Cobain — the daughter of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love — in Los Angeles. Frances confirmed their relationship in February 2022 while sharing moments that brought her a "great amount of joy" on Instagram.
Spencer Hawk, 24
After Tony and his first wife Cindy divorced in 1993, Tony married his second wife, Erin Lee, in 1996. Their first son, Spencer Anthony Hawk, was born on March 26, 1999, in California.
While Spencer skateboards for fun, music is where their true passion lies. In 2010, Tony told PEOPLE that Spencer was an avid guitarist and in a band called Cutback Curve by the time they were 11 years old.
Having been influenced by artists like Skrillex and Deadmau5, Spencer began releasing their own electronic music in 2016 under the name Gupi. The following year, Spencer enrolled in an electronic production program at Berklee College of Music. Ahead of Spencer's graduation in 2021, Tony wrote how proud he was of his son in a birthday Instagram post for Spencer.
“Happy Birthday to this uniquely talented, kind, driven young man known as Spencer (among other monikers). We are very proud of you, and look forward to hearing your future endeavors as you graduate college (!) soon,” Tony captioned the post.
Spencer also comprises one half of Food House, a hyperpop duo, with fellow hyperpop artist Fraxiom.
In 2020, Spencer spoke to Red Bull about his music career, saying, “I try to make a very large point of not at all involving my dad, just name-wise or financial-wise, in any of my music things. Because I don’t feel accomplished otherwise. It’s just so disingenuous and takes away from the point to begin with, which is the music.”
Keegan Hawk, 22
Tony and Erin welcomed their second child, Keegan Hawk, on July 18, 2001, in San Diego, California.
According to Tony, Keegan's name is synonymous with “fiery” and “thinker" — which are two ways he would describe his son. To celebrate Keegan's 21 birthday in 2022, Tony wrote on Instagram, “Happy 21st birthday to this kind, funny, brave, eclectic & talented dude. We are very proud of the man you’ve become and excited to see what’s next! We learned early on that the name origins of Keegan are synonymous with 'fiery' and 'thinker,' two traits he has represented well since day one.”
When Keegan was 9 years old, Tony told PEOPLE his youngest son was “as crazy as ever and is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to video games.” Now 22, Keegan also has a knack for photography. He has shared his own snaps of nature and skateboarding on his Instagram. In 2020, he told The Misfits Podcast that his passion for photography has even influenced how the Hawk family spends their time on vacations.
“It’s hard for them sometimes too because we’ll go travel to a crazy place and they just want to like hang out as a family, go around and do stuff and I’m just like ‘no can we go to this park over here and five hours north this way,’ ” Keegan said.
Keegan is also a talented skateboarder, taking after his father. In June 2023, Tony posted a picture of Keegan doing a trick in mid-air on a ramp and wrote about how happy it made him to see all three of his sons skate.
“A special moment for me last week: Keegan doing a stale fish on Riley’s backyard ramp during a short session we had. I never imagined that ALL of our kids would be interested in skating,” Tony captioned the shot.
Kadence Hawk, 15
On June 30, 2008, Tony welcomed his fourth child — and only daughter — Kadence Clover Hawk, with then-wife Lhotse Merriam. She was born at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California.
According to Tony, when Kadence was just 2 years old, she was "feisty, sassy, and incredibly sweet." She also won the affection of her three older brothers, with Tony telling PEOPLE, "My boys love their sister very much. But she has a special connection with Keegan. They have very similar personalities and Kady looks very much like Keegan did when he was her age."
As the daughter of a skating legend, it didn't take long for Kadence to pick up her father's sport either. At 10 years old, faced her fears and skated down a ramp for the first time. Tony documented the moment and shared it on X (formerly known as Twitter), writing alongside the video, “My daughter overcoming her fear in real time (wait for it). I might have been more nervous than she was.”
Kadence has picked up some other interests as well, including lacrosse — a sport that she has tried to teach her father about. "Thank you for the constant joy and laughter, and for trying to teach me the rules of lacrosse," Tony wrote on Instagram for her 13th birthday.
The following year, Tony celebrated her 14th birthday with a series of photos on Instagram, including a snap of her skiing and another shot of her in a play. "It has been a source of great pride to watch you grow into a talented, kind, witty, motivated and strong young woman, he wrote. "Can’t wait to see what’s next!"
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