Victor Willis of Village People Dies at 74

Victor Willis, the leading vocalist of the disco band Village People, known for the hit “Y.M.C.A.,” has passed away at the age of 74. The announcement was made through Facebook posts by his wife and the band on Wednesday. Karen-Huff Willis expressed deep sorrow in a statement on the musician’s Facebook page, revealing that Willis succumbed to a brief, intense illness on June 30, 2026.

Born in Texas, Willis co-founded the Village People and contributed to several popular tracks like “Y.M.C.A.,” “In the Navy,” and “Macho Man” in the late 1970s. The group became a cultural icon with their lively costumes and choreography, appealing mainly to disco’s sizable gay audience through their imagined personas of construction workers, bikers, cowboys, and soldiers. Willis initially departed from the band in 1980 but made a return in 2017.

“I got very depressed over the years and decided to just drop off the map. So I got into drugs,” Willis candidly shared with the San Diego Union Tribune in 2015 regarding his battle with drug addiction.

“Y.M.C.A.” became an anthem for the LGBTQ community, encouraging young men to visit the Young Men’s Christian Association in New York. The song became notable for its presence at rallies supporting former President Trump, despite Willis’s stance, as stated to the BBC in 2020, that neither he nor the Village People endorsed Trump. He clarified the music’s usage due to U.S. copyright laws.

In a show of political neutrality, the band performed “Y.M.C.A.” at a Trump rally in January 2025, prior to Trump’s second presidential term. Willis urged people to evaluate the president’s actions concerning LGBTQ rights and committed to standing against any adverse legislation.

In 2012, while away from the group, a court decision allowed Willis to reclaim partial ownership of the copyrights to key songs, such as “Y.M.C.A.,” which facilitated his return in 2017, as reported by BBC News.