Month: July 2026

Victor Willis, frontman of Village People, dies age 74

Victor Willis, the lead singer of the Village People, has died age 74. The group shared the news in a statement: “Victor passed on Monday 30 June 2026 of a short but aggressive illness,” they said. “Privacy is requested.”
The writer of what were widely accepted as canonical gay anthems in YMCA and Macho Man – also performed in costumes of hyper-masculine male stereotypes – Willis refuted the idea that YMCA was a gay anthem and threatened to sue “each and every news organisation” that made the claim.
“As I’ve 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,” he said in 2024. […]
Willis had a flip-flopping approach to Donald Trump’s use of YMCA in his campaigns and pageantry. After approving its use for Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, Willis retracted his support as the Black Lives Matter movement came to prominence, but then changed his tune again.
He repeatedly said he was ideologically opposed to Trump – and in 2024 supported Kamala Harris – but admitted the that president’s use of the track had “greatly benefited the song”. In 2025, the Village People performed at the Turning Point USA ball to mark the president’s second inauguration, as well as the pre-inauguration rally.
On Wednesday, Trump posted a tribute to Willis on Truth Social, writing: “He was a great and happy guy who loved that I used his groups song, YMCA, at my Rallies. We will think of Victor every time YMCA is played, like today, and all throughout this July Fourth Birthday week.”

Well, I hope that whatever money he made from the song’s latter-day resurgence was worth the loss of his soul.