Just what, exactly, is going on with Village People? And why are they performing at Trump events?
Village People grew in popularity in the 1970s. (Getty)
Village People performed at a ball on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration (January 19), joining a number of high-profile artists who have been tapped to perform at various inauguration events.
The lead singer of Village People, Victor Willis, confirmed this with a statement on January 13 in which he said: “We know this won’t make some of you happy to hear however we believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics.”
“Our song Y.M.C.A. is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost. Therefore, we believe it’s now time to bring the country together with music which is why VILLAGE PEOPLE will be performing at various events as part of the 2025 Inauguration of Donald J. Trump.”
This comes after President-elect Trump played the band’s 1978 song “Y.M.C.A” during several campaign rallies during the election.
The decision to perform at Trump’s inauguration incurred the wrath of fans, especially as “Y.M.C.A” and other songs by the band have been embraced as queer anthems.
One angry fan wrote on X: “What a f**king, ungrateful, pathetic sellout! If it wasn’t for the LGBTQ community, the Village People wouldn’t have gained such popularity and “YMCA” wouldn’t have become such a mega hit.”
“No surprise that this guy happens to be the ONLY original group member who WASN’T gay,” they continued, referring to Willis.
Another said: “You would think that as a band founded and focused around queer culture, you’d have a little more respect for queer people. Not to mention a backbone, for yourself.”
To understand what’s currently going on with Village People, and how they ended up performing for a President-elect famous for his “grim” anti-LGBTQ+ views, it’s helpful to look at where they came from.
How did Village People first form?
Village People were an American disco group formed by French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo who wanted to break into the American market after seeing success in France and Europe.
Morali was then given a demo tape recorded by singer and actor Victor Willis and hired him to sing background vocals on four tracks that Morali had written. Later, Morali approached Willis and said: “I had a dream that you sang lead on my album and it went very, very big.”
This led to Willis singing on the debut album Village People. He is the only original member remaining with the group.
The group’s name referred to Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, which has a reputation as being a “gayborhood.”
Are Village People gay?
Many of the original members of Village People were gay, apart from Willis and Belolo, including Morali, who sadly died of complications from AIDS in 1991.
Although Belolo was not gay, he would frequently visit gay clubs and venues with Morali and saw the potential of appealing to the gay nightclub scene.
Morali also recruited Village People’s backing dancers, which were dressed in the iconic costumes that people know to this day, in several of Manhattan’s gay clubs.
Is “Y.M.C.A” a queer anthem?
With several members of Village People being gay themselves, and the producers wanting to appeal to the gay nightclub scene, it is not unsurprising that many chose to view “Y.M.C.A” as a queer anthem.
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide organisation which has for many years provided low-cost, hostel style accommodation for young people.
The song has been played in many gay clubs since its release in 1978 and has been widely adopted by the LGBTQ+ community.
However, Willis recently set the record straight and said that it was not a gay anthem at all.
Defending the use of “Y.M.C.A” at Trump’s campaign rallies, he wrote on Facebook in early December: “There’s been a lot of talk, especially of late, that Y.M.C.A. is somehow a gay anthem.”
“As I’ve said numerous times in the past, that is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay, and that the first Village People album was totally about gay life.”
He explained that the lyrics of “Y.M.C.A” were not about being gay but rather informed by Willis’ observations at YMCA branches in “urban areas of San Francisco.”
“When I say, ‘hang out with all the boys’ that is simply 1970s black slang for black guys hanging-out together for sports, gambling or whatever. There’s nothing gay about that,” he continued, noting that he had instructed his wife to “start suing” news organisations who refer to the song as a gay anthem.
Who else will perform at Trump’s inauguration?
Carrie Underwood, Nelly, Jason Aldean, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Kid Rock have all agreed to perform at Trump’s inauguration events alongside Village People, with many facing similar levels of backlash, especially from LGBTQ+ fans.
In a statement sent to Today.com, Underwood said: “I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event.”
“I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future.”
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