Victor Willis, the vocalist who fronted the Village People during the disco era, passed away on June 30, 2026, at age 74 following a brief but severe illness. As a co-writer of the group's signature hits including 'YMCA' and 'Macho Man,' Willis helped establish the band's distinctive combination of stereotypical masculine imagery with danceable disco sound. Despite widespread cultural recognition of these songs as gay anthems, Willis consistently rejected this interpretation throughout his career, vowing legal action against media outlets that made such claims. His subsequent decades were complicated by struggles with drug addiction and legal troubles following his departure from the group in 1980.

Willis's approach to political use of his work proved notably inconsistent, most visibly regarding Donald Trump's deployment of 'YMCA' at campaign events and rallies. He initially granted permission for the 2020 campaign but later retracted his support during the Black Lives Matter movement's prominence, then reversed course again. Willis declared his personal ideological opposition to Trump whilst acknowledging that the president's repeated use had substantially increased the song's cultural reach. He performed with the Village People at Trump's 2025 inauguration ball and pre-inauguration rally. Willis began his entertainment career through church singing and Broadway performances, meeting his future wife, actress Phylicia Rashad, whilst both starred in The Wiz.