R.I.P. Village People Singer Victor Willis

R.I.P. Village People Singer Victor Willis
Jimbo,
File Photo: Victor Willis Dies At 74
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump stands next to Victor Willis, member of the Village People during a rally the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term, in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

The next time President Trump dances to “Y.M.C.A.”, it’ll hit a little differently.  Victor Willis, the co-founder and lead singer of the Village People, passed away on Tuesday . . . one day before his 75th birthday.

 

 

His wife said he suffered from, quote, “a short but aggressive illness.”  Victor was the cop (slash) Naval officer in the band.

 

 

Willis left the Village People a few times over the years, and there were legal battles.  But he returned to the fold in 2017.

 

 

Trump called Willis, quote, “a great and happy guy who loved that I used his group’s song, ‘Y.M.C.A.’, at my rallies . . . Victor and the group was there for us right from the beginning!”

 

 

That’s not entirely true.  In 2020, he actually asked Trump NOT to use his music.  But a few months later, he recanted, and in 2025, he and the rest of the Village People performed at Trump’s inauguration.

 

 

FYI, Victor was married to Phylicia Rashad from 1978 to 1982. She would go on to play Claire Huxtable on “The Cosby Show”.

 

 

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