The co‑founder and lead singer Victor Willis of the disco group Village People has died at the age of 74.
On Wednesday morning(July 1), Willis’ family shared on Facebook his death, saying he’d been battling a “short but aggressive illness.
Willis performed as the group’s lead singer, often appearing in costume as a policeman or naval officer. He also co‑wrote many of their most successful singles.
For the group, Willis co‑wrote with Jacques Morali major hits like Macho Man, Y.M.C.A., In the Navy, and Go West, which all rose to the top of the charts.
He left the band in 1980 as preparations for a Village People feature film, Can’t Stop the Music, were underway. “Willis returned in 1982 for Fox on the Box—retitled In the Street in the U.S.—but left the Village People once more in 1983.
and spent years fighting a legal battle over copyright to the songs he’d written.
“Willis came back to the Village People in 2017 after an out-of-court settlement, and in January 2025 he performed their iconic hit Y.M.C.A. at President Donald Trump’s pre‑inauguration rally.
“Trump paid tribute on Truth Social, calling the late musician ‘a joyful and remarkable figure, and said, “It became a ‘monster’ hit, again, 30 years after its original launch,” the president continued. “Many singers and groups wanted to get on board at the Rallies after all of the Rally Attendance Records were set – The crowds were, and are, enormous – But Victor and the group were there for us right from the beginning! They loved the action, and we loved them and their great and uplifting song.
“We will think of Victor every time YMCA is played, like today, and all throughout this July Fourth Birthday week,” Trump added. “My condolences to his wonderful family and group. Victor Willis will be sorely missed. God Bless Him!!!”
When Trump turned “Y.M.C.A.” into a rally soundtrack, Willis pushed back, noting that the band had asked him to stop using it.
He told the BBC in 2020, “I don’t endorse Trump, I’ve never endorsed Trump, nor has the Village People.” “We have even asked him basically to even stop playing our music at his rallies.
“But because of the copyright laws in the United States… he’s able to play our music any time he wants to at any venue because he’s not using it in an incorrect way, so we don’t knock it.”
Willis surprised many fans last year by agreeing to take part in the politician’s second inauguration.
“We know this won’t make some of you happy to hear, however, we believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics,” he wrote on Facebook.
“Our song YMCA, is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost.”
Over the past few years, Willis has disputed reports that described the track as a gay anthem.
He said, “numerous times in the past, that is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay, and that the first Village People album was totally about gay life”.
