Victor Willis, the Texas-born singer and original lead of the disco group Village People, passed away on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, after a brief but aggressive illness, his wife announced on Wednesday, July 1. Willis was 74 years old.

As a co-founder and co-writer of some of the most enduring disco anthems—“Y.M.C.A.,” “In the Navy,” and “Macho Man”—Willis helped shape a cultural phenomenon that defined late 1970s dance floors worldwide. Village People’s flamboyant costumes and catchy tunes became synonymous with a vibrant era of pop culture and LGBTQ+ visibility, with Willis famously performing in a police uniform.

The group’s name, often linked to New York’s Greenwich Village, reflected the heart of the city’s gay scene in the 1970s, though Willis himself clarified that “Y.M.C.A.” was not intended as a gay anthem. The song, originally celebrating the Young Men’s Christian Association as a welcoming space, was inducted into the U.S. Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2020.

Willis’s life was marked by both triumph and struggle. He temporarily left Village People in 1980 amid battles with drug addiction and pleaded guilty to cocaine possession in 2006. However, he reclaimed his artistic legacy in 2017 after winning a copyright lawsuit that restored his co-ownership of the band’s biggest hits.

In recent years, “Y.M.C.A.” took on new political significance when former President Donald Trump adopted it as a campaign anthem, a move that sparked debate given the song’s original context. Trump praised Willis as “a fantastic and joyful guy” on Truth Social, recalling how he enjoyed the song. The band even performed “Y.M.C.A.” at a Trump rally in January 2025, shortly before his second inauguration, a decision that drew criticism from many.

Willis responded to the political use of the song with cautious optimism, stating at the time: “Let’s give President Trump a chance, regardless of past opinions. We’ll see what he does in the future, and if he takes steps to restrict LGBTQ rights, Village People will be the first to speak out.”

Victor Willis’s passing marks the end of an era for disco and pop culture, but his music and message continue to resonate across generations and communities worldwide.