Texas Artists Have Been Soundtracking Grand Theft Auto for Years

The wait for Grand Theft Auto VI is almost over; fans of GTA VI will finally get their hands on the game on November 19, 2026. For me, I'm excited not just for the game itself, but how the soundtrack is gonna turn out; like which other artists will be included in the game. So as we wait (patiently), let's take a look at some of the Texas bands & artists that have been included through out the GTA series.

Texas artists included in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

On GTA San Andreas, we saw a handful of Texas artists on at least 3 in-game radio stations:

• The country station, K-Rose, included "Crazy" by Willie Nelson (Abbott, TX), "The Letter That Johnny Walker Read" by Asleep At the Wheel (Austin, TX), & "All My Exes Live In Texas" by Whitey Shafer (Whitney, TX).
• The contemporary hip hop station, Radio Los Santos, featured mainly West Coast Rap but they did include The D.O.C. from Dallas with his track "It's Funky Enough".
• The funk/soul station, Master Sounds FM, included two songs by Abilene's Lyn Collins; "Think About It" & "Rock Me Again & Again".

Texas artists included in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

While the soundtrack is incredible, only 1 Texas artist was included in the soundtrack for GTA Vice City Stories; Galveston's Barry White and his song "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" on the VCFL radio station. But don't worry. Barry White makes an another appearance in a GTA game (same with Willie Nelson from GTA San Andreas).

Texas artists included in Grand Theft Auto IV

Only two in-game radio stations included artists from Texas in GTA IV:

• The classic rock station, Liberty Rock Radio, included "Free Ride" by The Edgar Winter Group (Beaumont) & "Thug" by ZZ Top (Houston).
• Barry White (Galveston) makes another appearance in GTA, this time on The Vibe 98.8 with "It's Only Love Doing its Thing".

It's also worth noting that, while the whole song is not included, Strength Beyond Strength" by Pantera is used during one of Liberty Rock Radio's stingers. You can hear it for yourself here.

Also there IS in fact an artist named "Texas" on the Vice City FM station in GTA IV (Their song "I Don't Want a Lover" is in the game). Even though the group is from Scotland, we felt this was worth a mention here.

Texas artists included in Grand Theft Auto V

Without a doubt, GTA V is the game that includes the MOST Texas artists & bands on several different radio stations.

• Radio Los Santos includes a few songs from Travis Scott (Houston). "Upper Echelon" & as a guest appearance on Kodiak Black's "ZEZE". Ciara (Fort Hood) is also in the game as a guest appearance on "Too Hood" by Gucci Mane.
• West Coast Classics includes Geto Boys (Houston) "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" & Spice 1 (Corsicana/Bryan) "The Murda Show (Feat. MC Eiht)".
• Rebel Radio includes Willie Nelson "Whiskey Rivers", Ray Price (Perryville) "Crazy Arms" & two songs from Littlefield's Waylon Jennings: "I Ain't Living Long Like This" & "I Don't Think Hank Done It This Way",
• Los Santos Rock Radio includes the Steve Miller Band (Steve was raised in Dallas) "Rock'n Me", ZZ Top "Gimme All Your Lovin'"
• The Lowdown 91.1 includes Houston's Johnny "Guitar" Watson "Superman Lover".
• Channel X includes Houston's D.R.I. "I Don't Need Society".
• Vinewood Boulevard Radio includes at least two Texas bands: "Black Grease" by The Black Angels from Austin & "Fall in Line" by Mind Spiders (Denton-Ft Worth).
• IFruit Radio has more Travis Scott appearances with his song "HIGHEST IN THE ROOM" & Young Thug feat Gunna on "Hot (Remix)". San Antonio's Megan Thee Stallion ft. DaBaby "Cash S**t".
• We also have Neon Indian from Denton who has his song "Polish Girl" on Radio Mirror Park but an exclusive song for GTA Online called "Change of Coast". However back in February of 2026, on X, he hinted that he might be returning on GTA VI as well...

I'd absolutely love to see more Texas artists be included in GTA VI; like Pantera, Stevie Ray Vaughan, more ZZ Top or some artists from El Paso like Cigarettes After Sex, At the Drive-In or Krystal Poppin. But we'll see.

While we wait patiently for GTA VI to come out, I'm still waiting for a GTA game to be set in Texas. Thankfully some fans made their own custom art on what it could look like, which you can read about here.

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