Donald Trump says his rallies made ‘YMCA’ “a ‘monster’ hit again” in tribute to Village People’s Victor Willis
President Donald Trump has paid tribute to the Village People’s Victor Willis, who has died aged 74, and patted himself on the back in the process.
His death was confirmed by Village People, who sadly shared on social media, “We are profoundly sad to announce the death of VICTOR WILLIS, lead singer of Village People.”
Their mournful statement continued, “Victor passed on Monday June 30, 2026 of a short but aggressive illness. Privacy is requested.”
For many decades, the Village People were viewed as the LGBTQ+ friendly creators of hits such as ‘YMCA’, ‘Go West’, and ‘In The Navy’. However, for the last decade, ‘YMCA’, has become a staple at Trump rallies, which the band lent their support to.
While the Village People had previously urged Trump to stop playing the hit song, which Willis later claimed was due to fan complaints being “a nuisance to me”, Willis changed his tune in 2024, and also noted, “Trump seems to genuinely like ‘YMCA’ and he’s having a lot of fun with it.”
Furthermore, he did credit Trump with bolstering his bank balance, adding, “The financial benefits have been great as well as ‘YMCA’ is estimated to gross several million dollars since the President Elect’s continued use of the song.”
Subsequently, in January 2025, Village People even performed at Trump’s Make America Great Again Victory Rally at the Capitol One Arena in Washington, signalling their full support for the president and his use of the track.
In light of Willis’ death, Trump has paid tribute to the late singer, while also taking credit for making ‘YMCA’ popular again.
His post on Truth Social began, “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.”
Trump then claimed, “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.”
In a change of tone, Trump uncharacteristically concluded by writing, “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!!!”
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