The Village People are mourning the death of lead singer Victor Willis at the age of 74.
“We are profoundly sad to announce the death of Victor Willis, lead singer of Village People,” the group wrote via Facebook. “Victor passed on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, of a short but aggressive illness. Privacy is requested.”
Victor’s wife, Karen Huff Willis, also confirmed her husband’s death with “profound sadness” via Facebook.
An official cause of death has yet to be revealed.
Alongside original members Randy Jones, Glenn Hughes, Felipe Rose, David Hodo and Alex Briley, Victor released two albums with the Village People and was part of massive hits, including “Macho Man,” “In the Navy” and “Go West.”
In 2020, the group’s biggest song,”Y.M.C.A.,” was preserved for posterity by the National Recording Registry, selected annually by the United States Library of Congress, as “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” and also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
While he left the group in 1980 to pursue a solo career, Victor returned to the group just a couple of years later and stayed until 2017.
Soon after Victor’s death was confirmed, President Donald Trump shared his condolences online.
“Village People singer Victor Willis is dead at 74. He was a great and happy guy who loved that I used his group’s song, ‘YMCA,’ at my Rallies,” Trump, 80, wrote via Truth Social on Wednesday, July 1. “It became a ‘monster’ hit, again, 30 years after its original launch. 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!”
The president vowed to think of Victor “every time ‘YMCA’ is played, like today, and all throughout this July Fourth Birthday week. My condolences to his wonderful family and group, Victor Willis will be sorely missed, God Bless Him!!!”
While Victor initially told the BBC neither he nor the Village People endorsed Trump, the band eventually granted him continued use of the track.
In 2025, Victor and the Village People also agreed to perform the song at Trump’s pre-inauguration rally in Washington D.C.
“We know this won’t make some of you happy to hear, however we believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics,” Victor wrote on Facebook at the time. “Our song ‘YMCA’ is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost.”
