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Tony Hawk gave up violin for skateboarding

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Skateboarding icon Tony Hawk reportedly gave up a budding career as a violinist to pursue his freewheeling boarding passion.

Hawk, a professional skateboarder who has become a household name thanks to successful video games, said his life could have ended up differently if he had continued playing violin, BBC Radio One reported Thursday.

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"I literally gave it up for skateboarding because I was playing the violin and was starting to do relatively well with it. I was getting requested by my teacher to start doing these school concerts and extracurricular stuff and it was cutting in to my skate time, as my free time was my skate time," Hawk said.

"Eventually I had to tell them 'I want to play violin but I can't take it this seriously' -- he was very upset. But, I would show up to concerts with bandages on my elbows,!" Hawk said.

Hawks' newest game, "Tony Hawk UnderGround 2," starring Bam, Steve O. and Chris Pontius from "Jackass," recently hit the stores.

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