The Texas-born musician was a co-founder of the Village People and co-wrote hits including “Y.M.C.A,” “In the Navy” and “Macho Man” that swept the world’s dancefloors in the late 1970s.
Victor Willis, lead singer of the disco group Village People whose hit “Y.M.C.A.” became a fixture at rallies for President Trump, has died, his wife and the band said in Facebook posts on Wednesday. He was 74.
“It is with profound sadness that I must announce the death of my husband, VICTOR WILLIS,” Karen-Huff Willis said in a statement on the musician’s Facebook page. “Victor passed away on Tuesday June 30, 2026 as a result of a short, but aggressive illness.”
The band shared a similar statement on its Facebook page.
The Texas-born musician was a co-founder of the Village People and co-wrote hits including “Y.M.C.A,” “In the Navy” and “Macho Man” that swept the world’s dancefloors in the late 1970s.
With their flamboyant costumes and choreography, the group became a pop culture phenomenon, targeting disco’s large gay audience with camp fantasy characters of butch builders, bikers, cowboys and soldiers.
Willis left the group in 1980 but rejoined in 2017.
He struggled with drug addiction and took a plea deal over cocaine possession in 2006.
“I got very depressed over the years and decided to just drop off the map. So I got into drugs,” he told the San Diego Union Tribune in 2015.
“Y.M.C.A.,” whose lyrics urge “young men” to head to the Young Men’s Christian Association in New York, became an anthem for the LGBTQ community and beyond.
But some say the song has been co-opted by the American right wing movement following its use at rallies and events supporting Mr. Trump.
“I don’t endorse Trump, I’ve never endorsed Trump, nor has the Village People,” Willis told the BBC in 2020. “But because of the copyright laws in the United States, he’s able to play our music any time he wants to.”
The band performed “Y.M.C.A.” at a Trump rally in January 2025, before the Republican was inaugurated for his second term as president.
“Let’s give President Trump a chance, regardless of what you may have thought about him in the past,” Willis said at the time. “Let’s see what he’s going to do moving forward, and if he does things to restrict LGBTQ rights, Village People will be the first to speak out.”
In 2012, when Willis was away from the group, a judge ruled the singer could reclaim at least partial ownership of the copyrights to more than two dozen of the their songs, including “Y.M.C.A.,” “Macho Man” and “In the Navy.” The resolution paved the way for his return to the group in 2017, BBC News reported.