'80s Skateboarding Legend Jeff Grosso Dies At 51
NEWPORT BEACH (CBSLA) — Skateboarding legend Jeff Grosso has died in Newport Beach. He was 51.
Grosso died Tuesday at Hoag Hospital Newport Beach. The results of an autopsy to determine his cause of death were pending.
Grosso was considered one of the top boarders in the 80s. Skateboarding icon Tony Hawk remembered Grosso as "a true skateboarder at his core" in an Instagram post.
"I believe Jeff is a big reason that anyone truly cares, and skateboarding was lucky to have him as an ambassador and gatekeeper to its history," Hawk wrote.
Hawk said he had skated with Grosso and was occasionally a guest on his "Love Letters to Skateboarding" video series on YouTube. Grosso began hosting the series in 2011 and the last episode was posted on March 12.
The series was sponsored by Vans, which said on Twitter here was nothing Grosso wouldn't do to uplift skateboarding and the people around it.
There was nothing that Jeff Grosso wouldn't do to uplift skateboarding & the people around it. To say his impact on our brand, our people & skateboarding was unparalleled, would be an underestimation of how much of a role he played in our lives. We'll miss him endlessly. pic.twitter.com/sQKaiEfcGN
— Vans (@VANS_66) April 1, 2020
"To say his impact on our brand, our people and skateboarding was unparalleled, would be an underestimation of how much of a role he played in our lives," Vans tweeted. "We'll miss him endlessly."
Grosso was born in Glendale in 1968 and lived in Arcadia before moving to Orange County. He is survived by his 8-year-old son.