Victor Willis, the singer and songwriter of Village People, dies

BarcelonaSinger and songwriter Victor Willis (Dallas, Texas, 1951) died this Tuesday at the age of 74 after a "brief but aggressive illness," as reported by the band on their Facebook page. Willis was the singer and co-writer of some of the group's biggest hits such as YMCA, Go West, Macho Man and In the navy. The musician embodied characters such as the policeman and the Navy officer within the group's visual aesthetic, based on interpreting masculine archetypes on stage. Willis's role was fundamental to the configuration of the sound and image with which Village People became an international phenomenon during the 70s and a symbol of the culture queer.

Village People was born as an all-male pop group designed, above all, for live performance with musicians who could also dance. Willis had begun a career in theater and had appeared in various musical shows, such as the production of The Wiz to Broadway, in 1976. But after meeting French disco music producer Jacques Morali, he decided to make a turn in his career and agreed to lead the project Morali had in hand. Village People debuted in 1977 with Willis at the helm and with other performers such as Felipe Rose, Jeff Olson, David Hodo, Alex Briley, and Glenn Hughes. Each embodied some masculine archetype: from the police officer and the captain to the construction worker, the biker, and the cowboy.

Willis was responsible for writing much of the band's repertoire, which soon achieved numerous hits. One of the first to appear was YMCA (1978) and others followed, such as In the Navy and Go West. Just when they were at the peak of their popularity and preparing a musical film, in the 1980s, Willis left the band. The group continued performing, with various singers at the helm, but did not manage to maintain the success they had achieved during the golden era of disco music. Then, for years, Willis fought in court to obtain the copyright for his songs. In 2012, the musician won a judgment in his favor, and in 2017 he rejoined the group.

In recent years, Village People became the soundtrack for the current President of the United States, Donald Trump. The politician used their songs during rallies, and initially, Willis asked him to withdraw them. Shortly after, however, he reached an agreement with Trump and ceded the songs for political events. In fact, one of Willis's last performances was in January 2025 during a Trump rally.