Photo Credit: Rockstar Games
A new trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI is out and has racked up 140 million views this week—sending Tom Petty streams soaring.
The trailer features the song “Love Is A Long Road” by the ‘80s rocker and is set in Vice City—Rockstar’s take on Miami. Spotify says since the trailer was released on Tuesday, streams for all of Tom Petty’s music have increased 36,979% in the last week. The teaser confirmed the game will arrive in 2025 and will feature a female protagonist for the first time since the 1990s.
Grand Theft Auto V released in 2013 and is the second-best selling video game of all time, behind Minecraft. The series is known for creating tongue-in-cheek radio stations that use real music and fake DJs to create a realistic atmosphere while driving around the city setting. In a post on Twitter, Tom Petty’s estate paid tribute to the honor.
“Tom loved contributing “Runnin’ Down A Dream” to GTA: San Andreas so it is an honor to have “Love Is A Long Road” featured in trailer one for GTA IV,” the Tom Petty estate said. New media releases have always propelled older songs to the top of charts again—we’ve seen it time and time again as newer generations discover old hits through new media.
Linda Rondstadt’s “Long Long Time” hit the top of the charts earlier this year when it appeared in HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ series, also based on a video game. Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” also became the unofficial anthem of Gen Z after its appearance in Stranger Things. Tom Petty isn’t the only ‘80s artist to benefit from the boost though. A playlist curated by Rockstar Games has been liked almost 500,000 times since it was created just a few weeks ago.
