Victor Willis, lead singer and founding member of Village People, died this Tuesday, June 30, at the age of 74 due to a “brief but aggressive illness,” as confirmed by the group itself in a statement released this Wednesday through its social networks.
The band has expressed its “deep sadness” at the loss of Willis, a key figure in the original line-up of the iconic American disco group.
Willis was one of the original voices of the Village People and one of the authors of their greatest anthems, including ‘YMCA’, ‘Macho Man’, ‘In the Navy’ and ‘Go West’, the latter popularized by the Pet Shop Boys in a later version.
Both ‘Go West’ and ‘YMCA’ have become gay and football anthems interchangeably, playing both in Pride marches and in sports stands, although their reach goes beyond these contexts, with a totally global and transversal character. However, Willis had wanted to distance himself from the association of ‘YMCA’ with gay culture and, in 2024, insisted that the song was not “a gay anthem” at all. Recently, the Village People had thrown their support behind Donald Trump by performing at last year’s inaugural rally and Trump has recently been seen dancing to ‘YMCA’ at a rally.
