Victor Willis, Village People Frontman And 'y.m.c.a.' Singer, Dead At 74

Victor Willis, nan Village People vocalist who co-wrote immoderate nan band’s biggest hits including “Y.M.C.A.,” has died. He was 74.

The set announced Willis’ decease successful a statement to societal media, saying, “We are profoundly sad to denote nan decease of Victor Willis, lead vocalist of Village People,” adding that “Victor passed connected Monday June 30, 2026 of a short but fierce illness.”

Willis, calved July 1, 1951, successful Texas but a San Francisco native, grew up astir gospel euphony successful his curate father’s Baptist church. As a young philharmonic prodigy, Willis said he joined successful sessions pinch Dizzy Gillespie and his set successful precocious school, nan Ballads, opened for nan Temptations. After school, he moved to philharmonic theatre and Broadway, performing successful “Hair,” which led to runs successful “Two Gentlemen of Verona” and “The Wiz.” That second accumulation introduced him to his first wife, early “The Cosby Show” prima Phylicia Rashad.

In 1977, French shaper Jacques Morali asked him to singing connected a postulation of disco tracks nether nan task sanction nan Village People. The sessions went truthful good that Morali asked Willis to beforehand nan group, which adopted campy archetypes of masculinity — cop, cowboy and building worker among them — successful their shape costumes. Paired pinch bubbly disco grooves and chant-along choruses, nan set became cheery icons overnight.

In conscionable 2 years, nan set released 1978’s “Cruisin,” which featured “Y.M.C.A.,” a deed that reached No. 1 successful 17 countries. The aforesaid year, nan set released “Macho Man,” which included nan title way and “Key West.”

The adjacent year, they put retired “Live and Sleazy” and “Go West,” which featured “In nan Navy,” “I Wanna Shake Your Hand” and nan title track, a nascent cheery nine deed that nan Pet Shop Boys later covered. Willis had mixed feelings astir nan group’s caricature image, signaling but shelving a 1979 solo album, “Solo Man,” until 2015. Willis discontinue nan Village People successful 1979 during accumulation of “Can’t Stop nan Music,” a Village People movie and a financial disaster that led to nan band’s dissolution.

The Village People successful 1979, clockwise from apical left: Randy Jones, Victor Willis, Alex Briley, Glenn Hughes, Felipe Rose and David Hodo.

(Can’t Stop Productions)

Willis admitted to supplier problems passim nan ‘80s and ‘90s, disappointment pinch really his clip successful nan Village People kept audiences from taking him much earnestly arsenic an artist. He pushed backmost connected perceptions of nan band’s gay-coded imagery, saying “Y.M.C.A.” was virtually inspired by his observations of life astatine nan recreation center’s San Francisco branch.

After a 2006 court-ordered rehab stint, Willis past joined Karen Huff, an lawyer who helped him gain backmost 50% ownership of “Y.M.C.A.” and 12 different Village People songs successful nan US. Willis made bid pinch his Village People bequest and rejoined nan group successful 2017.

In 2020, “Y.M.C.A.” was included successful nan National Recording Registry of nan U.S. Library of Congress and inducted into nan Grammy Hall of Fame.

President Trump, a longtime instrumentality of nan disco ensemble, became nan group’s astir arguable champion, incongruously playing its euphony astatine far-right governmental rallies.

Willis said successful 2020 that “I don’t endorse Trump, I’ve ne'er endorsed Trump, nor has nan Village People. We person moreover asked him fundamentally to moreover extremity playing our euphony astatine his rallies. But because of nan copyright laws successful nan United States ... he’s capable to play our euphony immoderate clip he wants to astatine immoderate venue because he’s not utilizing it successful an incorrect way, truthful we don’t sound it.”

Yet Willis yet agreed to execute astatine President Trump’s 2nd inauguration successful 2025. “We cognize this won’t make immoderate of you happy to hear, nevertheless we judge that euphony is to beryllium performed without respect to politics,” he wrote connected Facebook then. “Our opus YMCA is simply a world anthem that hopefully helps bring nan state together aft a tumultuous and divided run wherever our preferred campaigner lost.”

President Trump posted connected Truth Social that “we loved them and their awesome and uplifting song.”

“We will deliberation of Victor each clip YMCA is played, for illustration today, and each passim this July Fourth Birthday week,” nan President continued.