Victor Willis, the voice of The Village People, has died. He was 74.
“We are profoundly sad to announce the death of VICTOR WILLIS, lead singer of Village People. Victor passed on Tuesday June 30, 2026, of a short but aggressive illness,” the band posted on Facebook. “Privacy is requested.”
Willis co-founded the disco group that featured himself dressed as a police officer while performing with bandmates variously decked out as a Native American, a soldier, a leather-clad biker, a construction worker and a cowboy.
The band’s hits included “In the Navy,” “Macho Man” and “YMCA,” which has become a staple at President Trump’s rallies. Willis co-wrote all three of those songs.
“YMCA” is also played at Yankees home games during the seventh-inning stretch, with the grounds crew doing arm gestures for the letters in the song’s chorus.
“We will think of Victor every time YMCA is played, like today, and all throughout this July Fourth Birthday week,” the president posted on the White House’s social media X account on Wednesday. “My condolences to his wonderful family and group, Victor Willis will be sorely missed, God Bless Him!!!”
The Village People were inspired by the West Village’s gay-friendly social scene of the 1970s. Their debut album dropped in 1977. The band’s 1978 tune “Hot Cop” became Willis’s theme song. He sometimes performed with the band as a navy officer, too.
Willis also performed in the Broadway musical “The Wiz,” where he met “The Cosby Show” star Phylicia Rashad. They were married from 1978 to 1982.
Willis told the Associated Press in 2012 that drug charges prompted him to renter a rehabilitation program, which put him on the right track.
“Life is fine,” he said. “I went through whatever I went through, but everything is going great now.”
Willis left The Village People in 1979, but returned to his old job in 2017.
With News Wire Service