Victor Willis, the lead singer and co-founder of disco group whose hit , has died at the age of 74 after a brief illness.
His wife announced the news in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
“It is with profound sadness that I must announce the death of my husband, VICTOR WILLIS. Victor passed away on Tuesday June 30, 2026 as a result of a short, but aggressive illness.”
Trump pays tribute
expressed his condolences on Truth Social, remembering Willis and the renewed .
“He was a great and happy guy who loved that I used his group’s song, YMCA, at my rallies. It became a ‘monster’ hit, again, 30 years after its original launch.”
He added: “We will think of Victor every time YMCA is played, like today, and all throughout this July Fourth Birthday week.”
The voice behind disco classics
Born in Texas, Willis co-founded Village People in 1977 after accepting an invitation from French producer Jacques Morali and music executive Henri Belolo.
He co-wrote some of disco’s biggest hits, including:
Y.M.C.A.
Macho Man
In the Navy
According to the band’s website, Morali famously told Willis: “I had a dream that you sang lead vocals on an album I produced, and it went very, very big… I’ll make you a star.”
A disco phenomenon
Village People became one of the defining acts of the late 1970s, known for flamboyant costumes portraying characters such as construction workers, bikers, cowboys, police officers and soldiers.
The band’s name was widely associated with New York City’s Greenwich Village, a center of LGBTQ culture during the disco era.
Willis, known for his signature “cop” and “admiral” stage personas, left the group in 1980.
Legal battles and comeback
After years marked by struggles with drug addiction, Willis pleaded guilty to cocaine possession in 2006.
He returned to Village People in 2017 after winning a copyright case that restored part-ownership of several of the band’s biggest songs.
‘Y.M.C.A.’ and its political afterlife
Originally celebrated as a disco classic and embraced by many in the LGBTQ community, .
The song was inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry in 2020 and also entered the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Willis consistently rejected claims that the song was intended as a gay anthem.
In 2024, he said: “It was 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.”
Support for Trump’s second term
Village People performed in January 2025 before his second presidential inauguration.
At the time, Willis urged Americans to judge Trump by his actions rather than his reputation.
“Let’s give President Trump a chance, regardless of what you may have thought about him in the past.”
He added: “Let’s see what he’s going to do moving forward and if he does things to restrict LGBTQ rights, Village People will be the first to speak out.”
(With inputs from AFP)
