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If you’ve played all the entries in Rockstar Games’ mega-hit franchise Grand Theft Auto, then you should be very familiar with Lazlow Jones.
He’s been one of the most consistent characters across all but two GTA entries. However, he’s not always a man we see. In fact, we don’t get to formally meet this guy until the most recent entry, GTA V.
If you haven’t played Grand Theft Auto V and don’t recognize the name, firstly, shame on you! Secondly, tune in to the radio from time to time and listen to a man that wants his career to flourish on the sound waves.
While he isn’t the best for the job nine times out of ten, stations still keep picking him up for work, and he’s now become the most re-occurring radio host across the GTA universe.
This guide to Lazlow Jones character history will take a trip down memory lane and look at the action-packed and frankly bizarre life of Lazlow Jones.
What Is Lazlow Like?
You would have thought as a radio DJ that he’d be some cool, calm, and collected guy, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. To begin with, Lazlow may fit this bill, but as each game comes around, he slowly becomes more unhinged.
He gets fired from multiple jobs for craze antics and starts to see his career go down by the time we get to GTA IV.
Lazlow also doesn’t seem to get along with many of his co-hosts, especially Cousin Ed and Michele Makes, who berate the man often.
Come GTA V, his image has seemed to change, but his personality is full of confidence until someone calls him out on some of his eyebrow-raising antics, which can see him reduced to a pathetic fool.
Despite being a “popular” personality in GTA, he doesn’t utilize social media as much as other characters. In GTA V, he doesn’t have a Lifeinvader account but does use Bleeter, a mick take of Twitter.
Just like those around him, he sometimes unknowingly belittles himself on Bleeter, saying things like, “Old women can’t get enough of me, Expect my mother who hates the air I breathe”.
Ponytail King
While his appearance has been pretty consistent throughout what we’ve known him to look like, he still has made a few changes here and there.
In artwork completed for GTA: Vice City, Lazlow can be shown with shoulder-length blonde hair, wearing a black t-shirt and leather jacket.
We then don’t get any more imagery of Lazlow until he appears in GTA V. He’s still got the long, blonde hair, but instead, he keeps it up in a ponytail. During the mission “Fame or Shame”, his clothes are pretty formal, a white t-shirt, topped by a jumper and jacket plus some basic trousers. He knows it’s warm in Los Santos, right?
By the time we get to “Reuniting the Family”, he’s ditched the jumper and jacket and has gone casual in his white t-shirt. Terrible mistake because it gave Michael easy access for his tattoo!
He’s back to his “Fame or Shame” get-up when we see him in “Meltdown”, just with a smaller ponytail for reasons you’ll find out about later.
Come GTA: Online, he’s decided to rebrand himself. Gone is the ponytail, opting for a shorter cut, and returning is the famous leather jacket from his artwork. Is this his final form?
Who Is He Based On?
Like quite a few of the characters in GTA V, Lazlow is based on a real-life person. Jeffrey Crawford “Lazlow” Jones, yes, they kept his real name, has worked in radio since 2005. He joined Rockstar Games in 2001 and helped them with the GTA radio stations, writing, dialogue, and much more.
He’s even helped on other Rockstar titles, such as the Red Dead series and Max Payne. In 2020, Lazlow left Rockstar, making it less likely that we will see or hear from him in GTA 6.
Hang On; I Recognize That Voice
Lazlow has been in almost every GTA entry since GTA III in a career that spans over 30 years! Now, with Rockstar liking to confuse its fans and time about through time, we’re going to go chronically in terms of the year the game is set, not the game’s release date, when going through his crazy career.
His first gig was as a host on V-Rock in 1984, during the events of GTA Vice City Stories. However, he wasn’t alone. Lazlow’s hosting duties were shared with Cousin Ed, who often took the mick out of Lazlow due to his “intern” status and his juvenile voice.
By the time GTA Vice City comes around, Lazlow is still at V-Rock but minus Cousin Ed, who has been fired in favor of Lazlow due to the latter happily accepting to be paid less. Becoming the head DJ at V-Rock slowly goes to his head and inflates his ego, leading to him getting fired after the events of Vice City.
Off to the East
Come 1992, Lazlow decided to pack up all his things and head to the East Coast to gain his next job. He was in luck! Well, at the misfortune of someone. A spot opens up at West Coast Talk Radio during the events of GTA: San Andreas. Billy Dexter had been hosting the show Entertaining America but met his demise when actor Jack Howitzer accidentally shot him. In swoops in Lazlow to take his place.
This man cannot keep a job, and he is yet again fired, this time due to his alcoholism.
He takes a bit of time off of the radio this time around. Not much is known of his six-year sabbatical besides’s heading to Kuala Lumpur to dig up sewage ditches. Someone’s got to do it, hey?
By 1998, he moved coasts again and is now in Liberty City for the Liberty City Stories. He joined the Liberty City Free Radio station, hosting the segment called Chatterbox. In the show, listeners would call in and discuss pretty much anything with Lazlow.
By the time 2001 and GTA III had come to fruition, Liberty City Free Station had been canceled, but Lazlow’s show Chatterbox was saved and made into Chatterbox FM. Lazlow was the only host this time around. The basic premise of Chatterbox FM was, well, to chat. Listeners would call the station to talk about pretty much anything, with Lazlow chiming in with his opinions. Not that he’s the best person to speak to…
Fired, Again!
Yet again, Lazlow gets himself in trouble and cannot seem to hold down his job. He is fired from Chatterbox FM, is going through a divorce, and starts to get himself a hefty criminal record.
He next appears in GTA IV. If you want to learn about Lazlow’s criminal doings, head to the in-game website “www.libertycitypolice.com”. This almost certainly confirms that Lazlow was fired from Chatterbox FM for a payola scandal and that he’s been bribing people to set up a new radio station.
By 2008, and at the part where Algonquin is unlocked, Lazlow had finally secured enough funding and launched Integrity 2.0, sponsored by ZiT, a song-identifying system. He can be heard running around the street of Algonquin, interviewing unsuspecting pedestrians, with many primarily bemused at Lazlow shoving a microphone in their faces.
His station can be heard during the events of GTA: Episodes from Liberty City due to them occurring during the events of GTA IV. However, he has an assistant in Jorge, who is from Honduras and speaks little English, much to Lazlow’s annoyance.
The sponsorship has also changed hands due to ZiT dropping him. Isaac Hammerstein and Daughters Funeral Services take over, a business run by Lazlow’s step-father. Despite the help that Lazlow needed to keep his station afloat, he’ll often berate his step-father on air.
Ahh, We Finally Meet, Mr. Jones
We finally get to meet Lazlow in the flesh during GTA V.
He is, of course, still on the radio, back at West Coast Talk Radio. His show is called Chattersphere, and he is joined by Michele Makes. The show’s point is to interview celebrities, but the real reason to listen is the constant bickering between the two hosts. Does anyone actually like Lazlow?
Anyways, moving on to his presenting duties. In GTA V, Lazlow presents “Fame or Shame”, a talent TV show. After reuniting with Trevor, Michael discovers through his son Jimmy that his daughter Tracey is trying out for the show without her father knowing.
Michael and Trevor storm down to the auditions, which are being held at Maze Bank Arena. Tracey starts to audition with dance, but Lazlow joins in and dances inappropriately around her, angering Michael. Lazlow runs away to his car, starting a car chase around Los Santos between them.
Lazlow’s car eventually breaks down in the Los Santos storm drain, leaving him no choice but to surrender. To pay back for what he did to Tracey, Trevor makes him remove his pants and dance around while he records it. Michael eventually intervenes and allows Lazlow to get away.
He is not seen again until the mission “Reuniting the Family”. In an attempt to get the De Santa Family back together again, Michael and Jimmy go and reconcile with Amanda. With Tracey being the last family member to collect, Jimmy breaks the news that she’s on Vinewood Boulevard at Blazing Tattoo with Lazlow. Tracey hopes to get back on to Fame or Shame and has stalked Lazlow down to persuade him to let her back on.
As Michael arrives on the scene, he overhears Lazlow confirming that he’ll let Tracey back on the show if she “blows” him. When Michael confronts him, he says it was taken out of context, but the top had already blown. Michael proceeds to forcibly pierce Lazlows ear, eyebrow, and nose before tattooing a penis on either his back or chest and chopping off his signature ponytail.
Lazlow then agrees that he’ll let Tracey back on the show without any stipulations. He is last seen at the film premiere during “Meltdown”, interviewing various cast members for Weasel News. He approaches Solomon Richards about some acting work. Solomon jokes around with him, saying he’s got just the right project for him called “The Closet”. He sees Michael and quickly moves into the Theater, still nervous of him.
And that’s it for the visual appearances of Lazlow. Of course, if you weirdly miss him, you can still catch him on the radio.
Clubbing It Up Online
Not only does he appear in the main story, but Lazlow is also carried over to GTA: Online. He doesn’t make an appearance until the GTA: Online After Hours update, which was released in mid-2018.
Once the player has purchased their nightclub, Lazlow will be inside, practicing for Fame or Shame. Tony Prince, the reason you’ve purchased a nightclub, is also inside and tell’s Lazlow to get lost once you’ve arrived.
Lazlow then discovers that Tony doesn’t want him as the DJ of this new club, much to his sadness. Lazlow begs but is still told no. Instead, he’s told to use his connections to attract big names to the club, where he’ll get the player to pick up these VIPs.
Lazlow then tends to pop up often. At one point, he can be seen meditating with English Dave before the player has to go off and pick up Solomun. Once you’ve made it back with Solomun, Lazlow will attempt to give the DJ his tracks to spin but is yet again rejected.
After these events, Lazlow can be found in the club permanently; there’s just no getting rid of him.
So, How Many Missions Is He In?
Despite being one of the most recognizable names in GTA history, Lazlow’s physical appearance doesn’t come often. He’s only in “Fame or Shame”, Reuniting the Family” and “Meltdown” in the GTA V story events.
You Do Not Want to Miss These Moments!
Being Utterly Humiliated
Lazlow spends most of his screen time in GTA V being humiliated at the hands of Michael and Trevor. Not only is there a video floating about of him dancing in his pants, but that Blazing Tattoo shop sequence is enough to embarrass the poor guy completely.
Two Dads?
While Tracey is auditioning for Fame or Shame, Lazlow makes a couple of comments about Tracey having two dads in Michael and Trevor. Can you imagine how dysfunctional Tracey would have grown up to be if that were true? Well, more so than she already is.
Watch Out for the Killer Bees!
Some of the best Lazlow radio conversations came during his Chatterbox FM days during GTA III. One particular conversation that comes to mind was all about Killer Bees.
Lazlow asks his next caller if they’re sane. They simply reply, “Absolutely Lazlow. Killer Bees.”. This then starts a wacky conversation between the two about Killer Bees and their awareness of them. Fun fact, there’s a report in the Liberty Tree about the Killer Bee phenomenon.
If you can take the time out, research his radio chat shows for many more bizarre interactions.
In Trouble with the Law
We know he’s been in trouble with the law multiple times but let’s take a deep dive into his criminal database.
In 1994, he was done for stalking, followed by forcible touching in 1998. Not once but twice was he arrested for bribery, in 2001 and 2004. In between, he got another slap on the wrist for public lewdness in 2002. His final entry was for exposure of a person in 2005.
The notes state he was charged for payola scandals, hence the bribery charges, arrest for public urination, and exposing himself to an older woman. Yikes!
FAQ’s
Question: Is Lazlow married?
Answer: Lazlow has been married before, but he and his partner divorced before the events of GTA IV. The pair didn’t have any children; to this day, Lazlow is still childless. He isn’t seen to have a partner in GTA V, which is probably a good thing due to some of his lewd actions.
Question: How many games has Lazlow been credited to?
Answer: Lazlow has been in seven games and the subsequent DLCS. With his departure from Rockstar Games in 2020, it’s a doubt that the tally will increase.
Question: Have any other characters made appearances in multiple games?
Answer: Rockstar has used a whole bunch of characters from other entries. Catalina was used in GTA: San Andreas and GTA: III, Johnny Klebiz is in GTA IV, and its DLCs plus GTA V, and Patrick McReary shows up in GTA IV and GTA V. That’s to name a few!
Ending the Broadcast
And that brings me to an end of showcasing the successful, but also sad at times, the life of Lazlow Jones. Â While he’s become a popular recurring character, he isn’t always the best or brightest. You would have thought that with everything he’s done in life, he’ll hopefully want to become a better man.
May I wish him success in whatever he does in the future, whether he’s that a man in front of the camera or someone harassing the street for interviews.