{"id":6630,"date":"2026-07-02T09:05:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/?p=6630"},"modified":"2026-07-02T09:05:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:05:47","slug":"donald-trumps-remarks-following-victor-willis-death-raise-eyebrows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/?p=6630","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump\u2019s remarks following Victor Willis\u2019 death raise eyebrows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victor Willis, the lead singer of\u00a0Village People\u00a0<\/em>passed away aged 74, the band shared in a statement on the socila media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are profoundly sad to announce the death of VICTOR WILLIS, lead singer of Village People,\u201d the band\u00a0said on\u00a0Facebook<\/em><\/a>. \u201cVictor passed on Monday, June 30, 2026, of a short but aggressive illness. Privacy is requested.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever danced to\u00a0YMCA<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Macho Man<\/em>, then you know what Willis\u2019 voice was truly capable of. He was essentially the soundtrack to the disco era, and not only did he sing those massive tracks like\u00a0In the Navy<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Go West<\/em>, but he actually co-wrote them too, cementing his place in pop culture history.<\/p>\n

Back in the late 70s, Willis was starring in the original Broadway run of\u00a0The Wiz\u00a0<\/em>when the group came together and rose to stardom, enchanting millions of fans worldwide. The band\u2019s iconic name is a direct shout-out to Greenwich Village in Manhattan, which was the absolute epicenter of New York\u2019s LGBTQ+ scene at the time.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
American Disco vocalist Victor Willis, of the group the Village People, performs onstage at the Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, June 21, 1979. (Photo by Paul Natkin\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

When the group blew up, it was Willis who was at the center of the madness. While most of their songs remain iconic, one particular one, probably the band\u2019s biggest hit, found a surprisingly new spotlight decades later: Donald Trump\u2019s campaign rallies.<\/p>\n

Namely, Trump made\u00a0YMCA<\/em>\u00a0his go-to closing track, complete with his famous fist-pump dance, a move that eventually prompted Willis to ask the former president to drop the song from his playlist.<\/p>\n

Per\u00a0Variety<\/em><\/a>, Trump revealed in May that his wife, Melania, \u201chates\u201d when he dances to the song he branded the \u201cgay national anthem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love that song,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n

But Willis wasn\u2019t the first ever musician to ask from the president to stop using one of their songs. The list includes Aerosmith, Adele, Celine Dion, Elton John, Foo Fighters, and Guns N\u2019 Roses, among the rest.<\/p>\n

Back in 2020, Victor Willis told BBC News that even though the group \u201cbenefited greatly\u201d from all the extra exposure they got from Trump playing the song, they wanted to clear the air, neither he nor the\u00a0Village People<\/em>\u00a0had ever actually endorsed him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have even asked him to stop playing his music at his rallies,\u201d Willis said,\u00a0The Independent<\/em><\/a>\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 JUNE 29: U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters after signing an executive order dealing with automobile repairs with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in the Oval Office at the White House on June 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. Trump followed up the signing by answering questions about the SAVE America Act. (Photo by Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Well, Trump remembered it totally differently. According to him, Willis \u201cwas a great and happy guy who loved that\u201d\u00a0the president used\u00a0YMCA\u00a0<\/em>at his rallies.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a great and happy guy who loved that I used his groups song, YMCA, at my Rallies,\u201d Donald Trump claimed on\u00a0Truth Social<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt became a \u201cmonster\u201d 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 \u2013 The crowds were, and are, enormous \u2013 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president added, \u201cWe 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!!!\u201d<\/p>\n

Please SHARE this article with your family and friends on Facebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Victor Willis, the lead singer of\u00a0Village People\u00a0passed away aged 74, the band shared in a statement on the socila media. \u201cWe are profoundly sad to announce the death of VICTOR WILLIS, lead singer of Village People,\u201d the band\u00a0said on\u00a0Facebook. \u201cVictor passed on Monday, June 30, 2026, of a short but aggressive illness. Privacy is requested.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5185,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6630"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6631,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6630\/revisions\/6631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}