The world of disco music has lost one of its iconic figures with the death of Village People founding member and frontman Victor Willis, aged 74.
Victor Willis, one of the founders of the band Village People and the voice that gave life to some of the most famous songs of disco music, died on Tuesday, June 30, at the age of 74. The announcement was made by his bandmates, who stated that the artist passed away after a short and aggressive illness.
“We are extremely saddened to announce the passing of Village People frontman Victor Willis. Victor passed away on June 30th following a brief and aggressive illness,” the band members sent on the official Facebook page.
Born July 1, 1951, in Dallas, Victor Willis studied dance and acting before moving to New York, where he began his career on Broadway. He was noticed by French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo during the performance of “The Wiz”, an adaptation of the “Wizard of Oz” story, and they proposed him to participate in a musical project that would quickly become an international phenomenon.
This is how the Village People was born, a group in which each member played a character inspired by American popular culture. Victor Willis became the group’s “cop” and one of its iconic voices, along with the cowboy, the biker, the construction worker, the Indian chief and the American soldier.
The first album, released in 1977 and simply titled ‘Village People’, included songs such as ‘San Francisco (You’ve Got Me)’ and ‘In Hollywood (Everybody Is a Star)’. In the following years, the albums “Macho Man”, “Cruisin'”, “Go West”, “Live and Sleazy”, “Can’t Stop the Music” and “Renaissance” appeared, and the group became one of the symbols of the disco era.
His best-known songs, “YMCA,” “Macho Man,” “In the Navy” and “Go West,” dates from the same period, songs that continue to be heard today.
Over time, “YMCA” has been interpreted in different ways. In the 70s, many considered it an anthem of the gay community, an idea also supported by producer Henri Belolo, who described it as “a gay pride manifesto”.
In recent years, however, the song has become indispensable at rallies and public appearances by US President Donald Trump.
Victor Willis initially opposed the use of the song by the Donald Trump campaign, but later changed his position. In January 2025, the artist took the stage with the Village People at the inauguration ceremony for the second term of the American leader and rejected the idea that “YMCA” was written as a gay anthem.
“As I’ve said many times in the past, it’s an erroneous assumption that stems from the fact that my co-writer was gay, as were some (but not all) members of the Village People, and that the first Village People album was very clearly about gay life,” declared Victor Willis at the end of 2024.
With his voice and the songs he composed and performed, Victor Willis contributed decisively to the success of one of the most famous bands in the history of disco music, and his songs have remained part of pop culture almost half a century after their release.
