Victor Willis, the lead singer of the Village People and the distinctive voice behind disco classics including “Y.M.C.A.,” “Go West,” and “In the Navy,” has died. He was 75.
“We are profoundly sad to announce the death of VICTOR WILLIS, lead singer of Village People,” the band said in a statement on its social media pages. “Victor passed on Monday June 30, 2026 of a short but aggressive illness. Privacy is requested.”
Willis helped found the Village People in 1977, alongside producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo, and served as the group’s original lead singer. The group’s self-titled debut album was released that year, and spawned the single “San Francisco (You’ve Got Me).”
The band became known for its themed costumes and flamboyant performances, and won the American Music Award for Favorite Disco Band/Duo/Group in 1979.
Willis left the group in 1979, at the height of its success, to pursue a solo career. After years of legal battles over copyrights and songwriting credits, he returned as the group’s lead singer in 2017.
In recent years, “Y.M.C.A.” also became closely associated with Donald Trump after it was regularly played at the president’s rallies. “You know what gets ’em rockin’? ‘Y.M.C.A.,'” President Trump said in 2022. “‘Y.M.C.A.’ gets people up and it gets them moving.”
Willis defended the group’s decision to perform at an inauguration event for President Trump in 2025. “We know this wont [sic] make some of you happy to hear however we believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics,” he wrote on Facebook. “Our song Y.M.C.A. is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost.”
More to follow…
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