Source : the age
The lead singer of the Village People has died aged 74.
Victor Willis, who was a founding member of Donald Trump’s favourite band, died after a “short but aggressive” illness on Monday (US time), the band announced on social media.
The US president often plays the disco band’s hit songs at his rallies and dances enthusiastically along to the music.
The Village People last performed live for the president on January 19, 2025, at his “Make America Great Again Victory Rally” as he was sworn into office for the second time.
Willis, who would dress as a police or naval officer in the group, left in 1979 before rejoining in 2017 and participating in many festivals and Pride events around the world.
The group’s name, a nod to Manhattan’s Greenwich Village LGBTQ scene, and camp costumes including police officers, Native Americans and builders, marked a contrast with Trump’s conservative campaign.
But their song YMCA, widely considered a gay anthem, is one of his favourites.
During Trump’s unsuccessful campaign for the presidency in 2020, YMCA reached No. 14 on the music charts after it was played at his rallies.
The affection was not initially mutual, with Willis telling the BBC in 2020 he did not endorse Trump – and had asked his campaign to stop playing their music.
“The group doesn’t want to get tied up in any politics,” Willis said at the time.
But they later performed at his victory rally in Washington in January 2024, with Trump quipping the group was “slightly larger than they used to be, but that’s the way it goes”.
A former member of the band distanced himself from the decision, claiming that all members but Willis had been replaced and that the original group would “never, ever perform at a Trump rally”.
“We would never give him the right to use those songs, and we would never slap the face of the strong, especially gay audience, that made us who we are today,” Jim Newman said in January.
Willis was the son of a Baptist preacher and developed his singing skills in his father’s church.
Alongside singing, he trained in acting and dance and performed on Broadway in the production of The Wiz in 1976.
The Telegraph, London
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