Victor Willis, the lead singer of Village People, has died at the age of 74, the band confirmed Wednesday.
“We are profoundly sad to announce the death of VICTOR WILLIS, lead singer of Village People,” the band said on Facebook.
“Victor passed on Monday June 30, 2026 of a short but aggressive illness. Privacy is requested.”
Willis, who died one day before his 75th birthday, dressed as a cop or naval officer while performing for the beloved disco group.
The Texas-born singer was the lead vocalist and co-writer behind the band’s biggest hits, including “YMCA,” “Go West” and “In the Navy.”
“YMCA,” released in 1978, became an anthem at President Trump’s campaign rallies in recent years.
Willis and the group had previously objected to the song’s use by Trump, sending a cease-and-desist to the commander in chief in 2023 after “Macho Man” was played at an event at Mar-a-Lago.
He and the band also backed Kamala Harris during the 2024 election cycle, but they later performed during Trump’s 2025 inauguration at the “MAGA Victory” rally in Washington, D.C.
“Our song ‘YMCA’ is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost,” Willis wrote on Facebook at the time.
“Therefore, we believe it’s now time to bring the country together with music which is why Village People will be performing at various events as part of the 2025 inauguration of Donald J. Trump.”
While Village People’s name references Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, long associated with gay culture, Willis often pushed back on the idea that “YMCA” is a gay anthem, saying people need to “get their minds out of the gutter” and arguing the interpretation is “based solely on the song’s lyrics alluding to [illicit] activity for which it does not.”
Born Victor Edward Willis in Dallas and raised in San Francisco, he began singing gospel music in his dad’s Baptist church before moving into acting and Broadway, including a role in “The Wiz.”
He later teamed with French producer Jacques Morali in the mid-1970s to form Village People.
Willis left the group in 1980 and later spent years in a legal battle over songwriting credits. He rejoined in 2017, eventually becoming the only remaining original member.
Willis won a legal victory in 2012 that helped him reclaim rights to some of the group’s biggest songs, including “YMCA,” “Go West” and “In the Navy,” before a jury later ruled he and Morali were the sole writers of 13 Village People tracks.
He married Karen Huff-Willis in 2007, and the couple lived in San Diego, California.
Village People recently completed the first leg of a European tour in May, with additional shows planned in Italy and France later this summer.
