Victor Willis, frontman for The Village People, has announced his band will being performing at several events during Donald Trump’s inauguration celebrations.
Victor Willis, the lead singer of the Village People, said the band had accepted an invitation from President-elect Donald Trump’s team to perform during several inauguration events, including at least one with Trump himself. https://t.co/uf3g38EjZE
— NBC Out (@NBCOUT) January 13, 2025
From NBC News:
“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,” Willis wrote in a Facebook post.
“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.”
One of the events the Village People will perform at is an Inaugural-Eve Ball hosted by Turning Point USA, a conservative activist group.
As most folks know, “Y.M.C.A.” has been viewed as salute to gay culture since the song debuted in 1978. And the band’s name is a nod to Greenwich Village, the center of gay life in New York City in the 70s. During the past presidential election cycles, many music artists have called out Trump’s campaign for using their music, not wanting to be aligned with his messaging. But Willis, a co-writer of the song, has been more than happy to have Trump feature his music at rallies. At the end of last year, “Y.M.C.A.” returned to the top of the Dance/Electronic music chart for several weeks. In other words – royalties is the name of the game here. Willis also announced last year he would sue any media outlet that referred to the song as a “gay anthem” in regard to “illicit activity at the Y.” (h/t JoeMyGod)
Discover more from The Randy Report
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.