Trump Mourns Village People Singer While Taking Credit for Making ‘YMCA’ a Hit Again

AP Photo/Rick Scuteri

President Donald Trump paid tribute to Village People frontman Victor Willis on Wednesday following the singer’s death while also claiming credit for helping turn the classic “YMCA” into a hit again through its prominent use at his political rallies.

Willis, the lead singer and co-writer behind Village People’s biggest hits including “YMCA,” “Macho Man,” and “In The Navy,” died at the age of 74, according to an announcement on the band’s official social media accounts.

In a Truth Social post Wednesday morning, Trump described Willis as an early supporter of his campaign events and said the band’s signature anthem found a new audience because of its repeated use at his rallies:

Village People singer Victor Willis is dead at 74. He was a great and happy guy who loved that I used his groups song, YMCA, at my Rallies. 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! They loved the action, and we loved them and their great and uplifting song. We will 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!!! President DONALD J. TRUMP

Texas-born Willis helped make Village People one of disco’s defining acts in the late 1970s, performing as characters including a police officer and naval officer. After leaving the group in 1980, he spent years fighting a legal battle over copyright to songs he co-wrote before rejoining the band in 2017.

“YMCA” became inseparable from Trump’s political brand during his presidential campaigns, serving as the closing song at rallies while the president performed his now-familiar dance routine. Willis, who approved of the song’s use at first, later issued a cease-and-desist letter in 2023.

Later, however, he reversed course and gave the president his blessing.

Earlier this year, Trump revealed that First Lady Melania Trump was less enthusiastic about the track than he is.

“She hates when I dance to what’s sometimes referred to as the gay national anthem. You know that? She hates it,” Trump said during a campaign-style appearance in Florida in May.

He recalled Melania telling him, “‘Darling, please don’t dance. It’s not presidential,'” before adding that he ignored her advice and continued ending events with the song.

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