Village People lead singer and founding member Victor Willis dies at the age of 75 after a 'short but aggressive illness'

The Village People lead singer Victor Willis has died at the age of 75 after a 'short but aggressive illness'.

The singer was one of the founding members of the legendary band, and provided one of the iconic voices of their hit YMCA.

Victor's death was announced in a brief statement by his family, where they said he passed away on Tuesday.

In a statement posted on the band's , they said: 'We are profoundly sad to announce the death of VICTOR WILLIS, lead singer of Village People. 

'Victor passed on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 of a short but aggressive illness. Privacy is requested.'

Victor's wife, Karen Huff-Willis, also confirmed the heartbreaking news, saying: 'It is with profound sadness that I must announce the death of my husband, Victor Willis.

'Victor passed away on Tuesday June 30, 2026 as a result of a short, but aggressive illness.

'The family request privacy at this time of great loss.'

Victor was born in Dallas, Texas, and first honed his vocal talents singing gospel music in his father's Baptist church before pursuing acting and performing on Broadway in The Wiz.

He then joined forces with French producer Jacques Morali, who told him: 'I had a dream that you sang lead on my album and it went very, very big.'

The duo then formed The Village People, which was named after Manhattan's Greenwich Village, and targeted the large gay audience of disco music. 

The band's 1978 smash hit YMCA turned the band into global superstars, and Victor went onto write a string of disco favourites including, Macho Man, In The Navy and Go West.

Victor quit the band in 1980 before returning, and he was the only original remaining member of the band, touring internationally with them right up until his death.  

In 2012, Victor secured a landmark legal victory that allowed him to reclaim rights to some of the band's biggest songs, including YMCA, Go West and In The Navy, before a jury later ruled he and Morali were the sole writers of 13 Village People tracks.

In March 2020, the Library of Congress described Y.M.C.A. as 'an American phenomenon' and added the song to the National Recording Registry, which preserves audio recordings considered to be 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.'

YMCA has seen a huge surge in popularity in recent years, after the song was played at President Donald Trump's campaign rallies and events.

However, despite Trump branding the song a 'gay national anthem,' Willis hit out at the idea, and threatened legal action against anyone who alluded to it as such.

Speaking at a campaign rally in May, the President said: 'They have that song. The gay national anthem if you remember.   

'That's why I did so well with the gay vote I think because of that song. I did great with the gay vote. Better than any Republican's ever done by far.'

Writing on Facebook in 2024, Willis said: 'Come January 2025, my wife will start suing each and every news organisation that falsely refers to YMCA, either in their headlines or alluded to in the base of the story, that YMCA is somehow a gay anthem because such notion is based solely on the song’s lyrics alluding to elicit activity for which it does not.'

The musician had previously blasted Trump for using the song to promote his campaign, but later backtracked when he noted the financial benefits of his promotion of the song.

He said: 'The financial benefits have been great… YMCA is estimated to gross several million dollars since the President Elect’s continued use of the song. 

'Therefore, I’m glad I allowed the President Elect’s continued use of YMCA. And I thank him for choosing to use my song.'