Victor Willis Dies: Village People Frontman and Writer Was 74

Victor Willis, the voice and writer behind the Village People anthem “Y.M.C.A.,” has died. He was 74.

“We are profoundly sad to announce the death of Victor Willis, lead singer of Village People,” his family said in a statement on Facebook. “Victor passed on June 30, 2026 of a short but aggressive illness. Privacy is requested.”

The group shared a similar statement about the singer-songwriter’s death on its official Facebook page.

Willis was born in Texas on July 1, 1951, and grew up in the San Francisco area. His father was a Baptist minister and Willis sang in the church before developing an ear for jazz and soul music.

He formed the Village People with late producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo in 1977, and became known as the disco group’s police officer. Willis co-wrote their hit singles “Y.M.C.A.,” “Macho Man,” and “In the Navy.”

He left the group to act and had a role in the 1980 movie Can’t Stop the Music. The film flopped and received terrible reviews.

Willis also worked on Broadway and had a role in a production of The Wiz in 1976, where he met future wife Phylicia Ayers-Allen, now known as Phylicia Rashad. The two were married from 1978 to 1982.

In 2007, Willis married his current wife, attorney and entertainment executive Karen Huff.

After working on various projects, he eventually returned to the Village People. When the group’s single “Y.M.C.A.” was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2020, Willis said he never imagined the song would become so popular.

“I had no idea when we wrote ‘Y.M.C.A.’ that it would become one of the most iconic songs in the world, and a fixture at almost every wedding, birthday party, bar mitzvah and sporting event,” he shared.

In later years, the group became MAGA supporters and performed at President Donald Trump’s second-term victory rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19, 2025.

Trump shared a tribute to Willis Wednesday on social media.

“Village People singer Victor Willis is dead at 74. He was a great and happy guy who loved that I used his song, ‘YMCA,’ at my rallies,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Many singers and groups wanted to get on board at the rallies after all of the rally attendance records were set – The crowds were, and are, enormous – But Victor and the group was there for us right from the beginning!”