The short version
- Seven songs in Rockstar's official GTA VI videos are 1980s records, the largest share of any decade.
- Every official video has used one: Tom Petty (1989), The Pointer Sisters (1986), then Depeche Mode, Def Leppard, Prefab Sprout and Phil Collins.
- The game is set in a present-day Vice City, so the 1980s cannot be its frame the way 1986 was in 2002.
- GTA VI: The Album is 34 new songs, none of them 1980s material.
- No song from any trailer is confirmed for an in-game station yet.
Rockstar has released three official GTA VI videos with licensed music, and the 1980s turn up in every one. Trailer 1 in December 2023 ran on Tom Petty. Trailer 2 in May 2025 ran on The Pointer Sisters. The Extended Look in August 2026 found room for Depeche Mode, Def Leppard and Phil Collins.
That sits awkwardly beside the setting. The game takes place in a present-day Vice City, and its official album is entirely new music. The useful answer separates what the videos played from what the radio will play.
Every 1980s record in an official GTA VI video
Songs identified by NME, PCGamesN and Rolling Stone from Rockstar's uploads. Years are original release years.
| Song | Artist | Year | Official video |
|---|---|---|---|
| Love Is a Long Road | Tom Petty | 1989 | Trailer 1, December 2023 |
| Hot Together | The Pointer Sisters | 1986 | Trailer 2, May 2025 |
| Everybody Have Fun Tonight | Wang Chung | 1986 | Trailer 2, on Jason's car radio |
| People Are People | Depeche Mode | 1984 | Extended Look, August 2026 |
| Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) | Phil Collins | 1984 | Extended Look |
| Love Bites | Def Leppard | 1988 | Extended Look |
| Cars and Girls | Prefab Sprout | 1988 | Extended Look |
The other thirteen songs
The 1980s are the biggest single decade in the official videos. They are nowhere near the only one.
The 1970s supply Jay Ferguson's Thunder Island (1977), The Bellamy Brothers' Let Your Love Flow (1976) and Cliff Richard's Devil Woman (1976), with Captain and Tennille alongside. Rap supplies Birdman and Lil Wayne's Pop Bottles (2007), Kodak Black's Skrilla and Sexyy Red and Tay Keith's Pound Town (2023). The rest is Haitian kompa from Zenglen, dembow from Chimbala and Omega, country from Tammy Wynette, and dance music from !!!, Aluna and Jayda G, and Elderbrook with Bob Moses.
A car radio, not a period piece
Heard together, the videos sound like a Florida car radio today: a classic-rock station, a soft-rock station, a rap station and a Caribbean station, each playing its own back catalogue. The 1980s records are there because real stations still play them.
That reading is ours. Rockstar has not described the music in its videos as a preview of any station.
What the setting rules out
The 2002 game was set in 1986 and licensed that year to date its world, as our history of the 2002 soundtrack covers. GTA VI is set in the present day.
So the 1980s cannot be the frame. A present-day game can play 1980s songs, the way GTA V's Los Santos Rock Radio played classic rock under Kenny Loggins, but it cannot make the decade the world.
Vice City in 2002 and in 2026
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
- Set in 1986
- Licensed music chosen to date the world
- More than 113 songs and commercials across its stations
- Released by Epic Records as a seven-album box set
Grand Theft Auto VI (2026)
- Set in the present day
- 1980s records used beside every later decade in official videos
- An official album of 34 new songs with Atlantic Records
- Station list not yet published
The album pulls the other way
GTA VI: The Album, announced on Rockstar's Newswire in September 2026, is 34 new songs released by Atlantic Records on November 19. Its six advance singles come from Yung Lean with Future and Metro Boomin, Travis Scott, Morgan Wallen, Rauw Alejandro, Keith Richards, and a collaboration between CA7RIEL and Paco Amoroso, PinkPantheress, Fred again.. and Etienne de Crecy.
None of that is 1980s music, though Keith Richards is a reminder that new songs can come from old names. Rockstar has not said whether album tracks will play on the in-game radio.
What would settle it
- Rockstar's station list, which will show whether any station is built around the 1980s
- An official in-game tracklist, which for GTA V was only complete after launch
- Confirmation that any trailer song is on the radio
Frequently asked questions
Will GTA 6 have 80s music?
Very likely some. Seven songs in Rockstar's official videos are 1980s records, but none is confirmed for the in-game radio yet, and the game is set in the present day.
What 80s songs are in the GTA 6 trailers?
Tom Petty's Love Is a Long Road (Trailer 1), The Pointer Sisters' Hot Together and Wang Chung's Everybody Have Fun Tonight (Trailer 2), and Depeche Mode, Phil Collins, Def Leppard and Prefab Sprout in the Extended Look.
Is GTA 6 set in the 1980s?
No. It returns to Vice City in the present day. The 2002 game was the one set in 1986.
Is the GTA 6 album 80s music?
No. GTA VI: The Album is 34 new songs from current artists including Travis Scott and PinkPantheress, released with Atlantic Records on November 19, 2026.
Keep reading
The Weight of 1986
Vice City's soundtrack is arguably the most influential licensed music selection in video game history. GTA 6...
The Trailer Soundtrack
Three official videos, three deliberate music choices. What each one signals - And why none of them confirm a...
GTA 6 Radio Stations
One confirmed station. Seventeen in GTA V for comparison. Here is the honest state of the radio picture, and...
0 comments
No comments yet. Sign in with Google to start it. Reading needs no account.
- Rockstar Games - Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 1
- Rockstar Games - Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer 2
- Rockstar Games - GTA VI: An Extended Look
- NME - What song is in Grand Theft Auto 6 Trailer 2
- Rolling Stone Canada - GTA VI Extended Look songs (27 August 2026)
- PCGamesN - GTA 6 soundtrack
- Rockstar Newswire - Announcing Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album (September 2026)
- Wikipedia - Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack