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Victor Willis, the lead singer of Village Individuals handed away aged 74, the band shared in a press release on the socila media.
“We’re profoundly unhappy to announce the dying of VICTOR WILLIS, lead singer of Village Individuals,” the band mentioned on Fb. “Victor handed on Monday, June 30, 2026, of a brief however aggressive sickness. Privateness is requested.”
In case you’ve ever danced to YMCA or Macho Man, then you realize what Willis’ voice was actually able to. He was basically the soundtrack to the disco period, and never solely did he sing these huge tracks like Within the Navy and Go West, however he truly co-wrote them too, cementing his place in popular culture historical past.
Again within the late 70s, Willis was starring within the authentic Broadway run of The Wiz when the group got here collectively and rose to stardom, enchanting thousands and thousands of followers worldwide. The band’s iconic identify is a direct shout-out to Greenwich Village in Manhattan, which was absolutely the epicenter of New York’s LGBTQ+ scene on the time.
When the group blew up, it was Willis who was on the middle of the insanity. Whereas most of their songs stay iconic, one explicit one, in all probability the band’s greatest hit, discovered a surprisingly new highlight many years later: Donald Trump’s marketing campaign rallies.
Particularly, Trump made YMCA his go-to closing monitor, full together with his well-known fist-pump dance, a transfer that finally prompted Willis to ask the previous president to drop the track from his playlist.
Per Selection, Trump revealed in Could that his spouse, Melania, “hates” when he dances to the track he branded the “homosexual nationwide anthem.”
“We love that track,” Trump added.
However Willis wasn’t the primary ever musician to ask from the president to cease utilizing considered one of their songs. The record contains Aerosmith, Adele, Celine Dion, Elton John, Foo Fighters, and Weapons N’ Roses, among the many relaxation.
Again in 2020, Victor Willis instructed BBC Information that despite the fact that the group “benefited drastically” from all the additional publicity they received from Trump enjoying the track, they wished to clear the air, neither he nor the Village Individuals had ever truly endorsed him.
“We’ve even requested him to cease enjoying his music at his rallies,” Willis mentioned, The Unbiased reported.
Effectively, Trump remembered it completely in another way. In response to him, Willis “was an incredible and completely satisfied man who beloved that” the president used YMCA at his rallies.
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“He was an incredible and completely satisfied man who beloved that I used his teams track, YMCA, at my Rallies,” Donald Trump claimed on Fact Social.
“It turned a “monster” hit, once more, 30 years after its authentic launch. Many singers and teams wished to get on board on the Rallies after the entire Rally Attendance Information had been set – The crowds had been, and are, huge – However Victor and the group was there for us proper from the start! They beloved the motion, and we beloved them and their nice and uplifting track.”
The president added, “We are going to consider Victor each time YMCA is performed, like in the present day, and all all through this July Fourth Birthday week. My condolences to his great household and group, Victor Willis can be sorely missed, God Bless Him!!!”
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