Victor Willis, the lead singer of ’70s disco group Village People, has died. He was 74.
Willis’ wife, Karen-Huff Willis, posted to the musician’s Facebook page on Wednesday: “It is with profound sadness that I must announce the death of my husband … Victor passed away on Tuesday … as a result of a short, but aggressive illness.” She added: “The family request privacy at this time of great loss.”
The Texas-born Willis was the frontman of the Village People, a name inspired by New York City’s Greenwich Village, who dominated the charts with “Macho Man,” “In the Navy,” and “Y.M.C.A,” which was undoubtedly their biggest single. Willis was a co-writer on their most successful songs.
Originally formed by Willis with French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo, Willis rose to global fame, performing in costume as a policeman or naval officer alongside bandmates including Randy Jones, Glenn Hughes, Felipe Rose, David Hodo, and Alex Briley. Tension arose in 1980 when Willis left the band, in what would be the beginning of decades of legal battles over copyright concerns. They were just about to start shooting Nancy Walker’s feature film, the pseudo-biography about Village People called Can’t Stop the Music.
