The founding Village People singer Victor Willis passed away on Tuesday at the age of 74 due to unspecified causes.

“We are profoundly sad to announce the death of Victor Willis,” the group stated on social media early Wednesday, mentioning that he died following “a short but aggressive illness.”

Willis, who previously starred in the original Broadway production of The Wiz, collaborated with producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo to create the Village People in 1977.

The rest of the vocal group was formed after the recording of their second album, 1978’s Macho Man. The band became famous for their costumes, with Willis typically dressing as a police officer, complete with a motorcycle helmet.

Read More: How the Village People Crafted ‘Macho Man’

Willis co-wrote most of the Village People’s biggest hits, including “In the Navy,” “Go West,” and “Y.M.C.A.,” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard charts. He left the group in the early ’80s and did not return until 2017, after winning a long-running legal battle over songwriting credits and royalties.

How Did President Trump Bring the Village People Back to the Spotlight?

The Village People returned to prominence in recent years as President Donald Trump played and danced to “Y.M.C.A.” at campaign rallies and other events.

In a 2024 social media post, Willis initially requested Trump to stop using the song after receiving “over a thousand complaints” from fans but changed his mind after observing many other artists asking Trump to refrain from using their songs.

“I said to my wife one day, ‘hey, Trump seems to genuinely like ‘Y.M.C.A.’ and he’s having a lot of fun with it,'” Willis declared. “I simply didn’t have the heart to prevent his continued use of my song in light of so many artists withdrawing their material.”

While the Village People found early support within the gay community, in 2024 Willis threatened legal action against members of the press who referred to “Y.M.C.A.” as a “gay anthem.”

“There’s been a lot of talk, especially lately, that ‘Y.M.C.A.’ is somehow a gay anthem,” he noted. “As I’ve said numerous times before, that is a false assumption based on my writing partner being gay, some (not all) members of Village People being gay, and that our first album was entirely about gay life.

“I wrote ‘Y.M.C.A.’ based on my knowledge of activities at the Y in urban areas of San Francisco such as swimming, basketball, track, and affordable food and lodging,” he continued. “When I say, ‘hang out with all the boys,’ that is simply 1970s black slang for black guys hanging out together for sports or gambling. There’s nothing gay about that.”

The Village People performed “Y.M.C.A.” at a ball celebrating Trump’s second inauguration in January 2025 and sang “Happy Birthday” and “Y.M.C.A.” to Secretary of State Marco Rubio at an event in New Delhi, India in May 2026.