Village People frontman Victor Willis dies at 74

Victor Willis, the original lead singer and co-founder of Village People whose voice powered “YMCA,” “Go West” and “In The Navy,” has died at 74, the band announced on its official Facebook page.

“We are profoundly sad to announce the death of VICTOR WILLIS, lead singer of Village People,” the statement said. It said Willis died “of a short but aggressive illness” and added, “Privacy is requested.” NBC News reported the statement said he died Tuesday, June 30, 2026; the BBC reported the band’s announcement said Monday, June 30, 2026.

Willis, who was born in Texas and grew up in San Francisco, became one of disco’s most recognizable frontmen in the late 1970s. He performed with Village People dressed at different times as a policeman and a naval officer, part of the group’s lineup of archetypal macho characters that helped make them international stars.

He was also central to the band’s sound. The BBC reported that Willis was lead singer and co-writer on the group’s biggest hits, including “YMCA,” “Go West” and “In The Navy.” NBC News reported that he wrote many of the band’s songs and was perhaps best known for dressing as a cop in connection with “YMCA.”

Before Village People, Willis sang gospel music in the church of his father, a Baptist minister, then turned to jazz and soul. His high school band, The Ballads, supported The Temptations, and he sat in on sessions with Dizzie Gillespie, the BBC reported. After college, he appeared in the Las Vegas production of “Hair,” which led to Broadway productions of “Two Gentlemen of Verona” and “The Wiz.” At “The Wiz,” he met his first wife, future “Cosby Show” actor Phylicia Rashad. Willis later helped her write and record the disco album “Josephine Disco.”

In 1977, French producer Jacques Morali hired Willis to sing background vocals on a set of disco songs. A four-track demo called “The Village People” won the group a record deal, and Morali asked Willis to become the frontman. “I had a dream that you sang lead on my album and it went very, very big,” Morali told him, according to the BBC.

The group released “Cruisin’” and “Macho Man” in 1978, followed by “Go West” in 1979. Billboard described the band’s work as “some of the most irresistible rhythms in today’s pop/disco genre,” while The New York Times singled out Willis for his “hoarse, sweaty vocals,” the BBC reported.

Willis left the group in 1979, according to NBC News, in hopes of starting a solo career. The BBC reported he left in 1980 and later spent years in a copyright fight over songs he had written. A federal jury ruled in 2015 that he was entitled to 50% ownership of 13 Village People songs in the United States, including “YMCA.” He rejoined the group in 2017.

“YMCA” remained his signature hit. The song reached No. 1 in 17 countries after its October 1978 release, the BBC reported, and was later preserved by the U.S. Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Willis also remained linked to the song’s political use. He told the BBC in 2020, “I don’t endorse Trump, I’ve never endorsed Trump, nor has the Village People,” while noting copyright law allowed the song to be played. He later performed “YMCA” at President Trump’s pre-inauguration rally in January 2025, saying on Facebook, “We believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics.”