Victor Willis, Village People lead singer, dies at 74 – Good Morning America
Open menu Video Victor Willis, the lead singer of the Village People, the group whose onstage costumes and catchy songs including "YMCA," "In the Navy" and "Macho Man," made them a household name far beyond the disco era, died on Tuesday, the band said in a social media post this week. He was 74. Willis died after a "short, but aggressive" illness, his wife wrote in a separate statement posted on his official Facebook page on Wednesday. "The family request privacy at this time of great loss," the statement added. Willis was born in Texas in 1951 and grew up singing gospel music in the church where his father was a Baptist minister. In 1977, he teamed up with the late producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo to create and form the Village People, embodying the group's "Cop/Admiral" character. Willis left and returned to the group several times in the years that followed but returned for good in 2017.
Published: July 1, 2026 3:24 pm
Source: Good Morning America — Read original