Village People frontman Victor Willis has died at the age of 74.
The singer-songwriter, born in Dallas, Texas, passed away yesterday (Tuesday June 30), following “a short but aggressive illness”.
His death was confirmed via a statement on the ’70s disco band’s official social media channels today (Wednesday July 1). “We are profoundly sad to announce the death of Victor Willis, lead singer of Village People,” the group wrote. They signed off with a request for “privacy” at this time.
Further details about Willis’ health were not disclosed.
His widow, Karen-Huff Willis, posted a separate statement on the vocalist’s Facebook page. She too expressed her “profound sadness” over the “great loss” of her husband. You can see the messages below.
Willis portrayed both a policeman and a naval officer during his time in Village People. He was a co-writer of their most successful singles, too, such as ‘Y.M.C.A.’, ‘Go West’, ‘Macho Man’ and ‘In The Navy’.
The late singer was initially in the group from their inception in 1977 until 1980. Willis then spent years fighting a legal dispute over copyright to the songs he’d written. In 2012, he won a landmark case, giving him back partial ownership of numerous Village People tracks.
Then, in 2015, Willis reclaimed 50 per cent of the copyright to many of the group’s songs, including ‘Y.M.C.A’. He had also sued a new incarnation of Village People for $1million over image issues in 2009.
Willis returned to the band in 2017, resuming his role as lead singer.
In early 2025, Village People performed ‘Y.M.C.A.’ at a Donald Trump inauguration rally. “We know this wont make some of you happy to hear,” they wrote ahead of the event, “however, we believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics.”
The band went on to describe the track as “a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost”.
Trump had continually used Village People’s music during his election campaigns, both in 2020 and again in 2024. Despite initially ordering Trump not to use ‘Y.M.C.A.’ in 2020 after the President seemingly threatened to shoot Black Lives Matter protestors in Minneapolis, Willis retracted his disapproval in 2021.
The singer later revealed that ‘Y.M.C.A.’ had “benefited greatly” from being used by Trump, citing its re-emergence on the Billboard charts at Number One. He mentioned the “financial benefits”, saying that the hit was “estimated to gross several million dollars since the President Elect’s continued use of the song”.
Willis continued: “Therefore, I’m glad I allowed the President Elect’s continued use of ‘Y.M.C.A.’ And I thank him for choosing to use my song. I said to my wife one day, hey, Trump seems to genuinely like ‘Y.M.C.A.’ and he’s having a lot of fun with it.
“As such, I simply didn’t have the heart to prevent his continued use of my song in the face of so many artists withdrawing his use of their material. So I told my wife to inform BMI to not withdraw the Trump campaign political use license.”
At the time, he denied the “false assumption” that the classic single was a “gay anthem”. He wrote: “And this must stop because it is damaging to the song.”
This May, the POTUS claimed that his dance moves to ‘Y.M.C.A.’ had brought the song to the top of the charts. Following Joe Biden’s victory in 2020, crowds outside the White House played the single to troll Trump.
Village People have earned one UK Number One single with ‘Y.M.C.A.’, per the Official Charts Company, with ‘In The Navy’ peaking at Number Two.
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