Village People Lead Singer Victor Willis Dead at 74

Founding Village People singer Victor Willis died on Tuesday of unspecified causes at the age of 74.

"We are profoundly sad to announce the death of Victor Willis," the group wrote on social media early Wednesday, noting that the singer died after "a short but aggressive illness."

Willis, who had previously starred in the original Broadway production of The Wiz, teamed up with producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo to form the Village People in 1977.

The rest of the vocal group wasn't put together until after the recording of their second album, 1978's Macho Man. The band became famous for their costumes, with Willis typically dressing as a police officer - complete with a motorcycle helmet.

Read More: How the Village People Crafted 'Macho Man'

Willis co-wrote most of the Village People's biggest hits, including "In the Navy," "Go West" and "Y.M.C.A.," which hit No. 2 on the Billboard charts. He left the group in the early '80s and did not return until 2017, after he had won a long-running legal battle over songwriting credits and royalties.

How President Trump Brought the Village People Back to the Spotlight

The Village People returned to the spotlight in recent years, as President Donald Trump played and danced to "Y.M.C.A." at campaign rallies and other events.

As he explained in a 2024 social media post, Willis initially asked Trump to stop using the song after receiving "over a thousand complaints" from fans, but changed his mind after seeing so many other artists ask the President to stop using their songs.

"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,'" Willis declared. "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."

"We will think of Victor every time YMCA is played, like today, and all throughout this July Fourth Birthday week," Trump wrote on social media after hearing of Willis' death. "My condolences to his wonderful family and group, Victor Willis will be sorely missed, God Bless Him!!!"

Although the Village People found their first supporters within the gay community, in 2024 Willis threatened to sue members of the press who referred to "Y.M.C.A." as a "gay anthem."

“There’s been a lot of talk, especially of late, that 'Y.M.C.A.' is somehow a gay anthem,” the singer noted. “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.

"I therefore wrote 'Y.M.C.A.' about the things I knew about the Y in the urban areas of San Francisco such as swimming, basketball, track, and cheap food and cheap rooms,” he continued. “And when I say, ‘hang out with all the boys’ that is simply 1970s black slang for black guys hanging-out together for sports, gambling or whatever. There’s nothing gay about that.”

The Village People performed "Y.M.C.A" at a ball celebrating Trump's second inauguration in January 2025, and in May of 2026 sang "Happy Birthday" and "Y.M.C.A" to Secretary of State Marco Rubio at an event in New Delhi, India.