Victor Willis, co-founder and original lead singer of the 1970’s disco group Village People, died Tuesday at age 74, according to the band and his wife.
Willis died of a “short but aggressive illness,” the Village People announced on their official Facebook page. Willis co-wrote Village people hits “YMCA,” “Macho Man,” and “In the Navy,” according to Variety.
“We are profoundly sad to announce the passing of Victor Willis, lead singer of Village People,” the group wrote. “Privacy is requested.”
Willis’ wife, Karen Huff Willis, also confirmed the singer’s death on his Facebook page.
“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. The family request [sic] privacy at this time of great loss,” her statement, which featured a photo of Willis, read.
The singer was raised in San Francisco and sang in his father’s church before moving to New York, according to Variety. He took part in multiple plays and musicals, including “The Wiz” in 1976 on Broadway.
Willis made Village People’s debut album, which was released in 1977, after meeting French disco producer Jacques Morali. Following an appearance on “American Bandstand,” Willis and Morali assembled the full group, who embodied archetypes such as a cop, a cowboy, and a construction worker. Willis frequently dressed as cop for “YMCA,” the band’s 1978 hit, according to NBC News. (RELATED: The Village People Are Sick Of YMCA Being Called A ‘Gay Anthem.’ They’re Going To Start Suing Over It)
While the singer departed the group in 1979 with a desire to have a solo career, he reorganized Village People in 2017, reportedly prompting issues with ex-bandmates. The group’s hit “YMCA” once again gained popularity when President Donald Trump began playing the song at the close of his campaign rallies in 2020.
In a December 2024 post on Facebook, Willis said he had received over a thousand complaints about Trump’s use of the song since 2020. “But by the time 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,” he wrote, noting he didn’t “have the heart” to prevent Trump from using it and had his wife tell his French partners not to take legal action.
The singer also said YMCA was “not really a gay anthem,” writing that he had repeatedly called that a “false assumption” in the past.
“There’s been a lot of talk, especially of late, that Y.M.C.A. is somehow a gay anthem. 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.”
“This assumption is also based on the fact that the YMCA was apparently being used as some sort of gay hangout and since one of the writers was gay and some of the Village People are gay, the song must be a message to gay people. To that I say once again, get your minds out of the gutter. It is not,” Willis said.
Willis and his fellow Village People members performed the song at a pre-inauguration rally in 2025 ahead of Trump’s second term.
Trump reacted to Willis’ passing in a Wednesday TRUTH Social post. “We will think of Victor every time YMCA is played, like today, and all throughout this July Fourth Birthday week. My condolences to his wonderful family and group, Victor Willis will be sorely missed, God Bless Him,” the president wrote.