Village People's Victor Willis dies at 74, Trump pays tribute to himself

This story originally appeared on Out.Victor Willis, the co-founder and lead singer of the disco singing group that President Donald Trump has made a staple of his events, Village People, died Tuesday, according to the band. He died one day before his birthday at the age of 74.Willis was the one in the group dressed as a police officer, and wrote all of the group's most famous songs, including its biggest hit: "Y.M.C.A."Thanks to Trump using that song at rallies beginning in 2020, the nearly 50-year-old anthem about what a "young man" can find by staying at a hostel has seen both a resurgence as well as a flood of complaints because of its association with the president. “We are profoundly sad to announce the death of Victor Willis, lead singer of Village People,” reads a statement posted to the band’s official Facebook Page. “Victor passed on Tuesday June 30, 2026 of a short but aggressive illness,” the group said in its statement. “Privacy is requested.”Willis's wife, Karen Huff Willis, issued a similarly-worded statement on Facebook, stating: "It is with profound sadness that I must announce the death of my husband, Victor Willis. Victor passed away on Tuesday June 30, 2026 as a result of a short, but aggressive illness. The family request privacy at this time of great loss."Willis was born in Dallas Texas on July 1, 1951, and grew up in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, where he sang gospel in his father's Baptist church. With training in acting and dance, he relocated to New York and joined the Negro Ensemble Company, appearing in numerous musicals and plays, including the original Broadway production of The Wiz in 1976, according to Variety.Willis said the events of his youth inspired him to write "Y.M.C.A.," The New York Times reported. But to call it a "gay anthem" was a “false assumption,” Willis claimed. He said he wrote the lyrics based on “the things I knew about the Y in the urban areas of San Francisco such as swimmi