YMCA Singer Defends Trump’s Use Of Song – Floats Potential Inauguration Performance

Victor Willis, a founding member of the Village People and co-writer of the popular “Y.M.C.A.” disco song defended President-elect Donald Trump’s use of the song and rebuked claims the song is a “gay anthem.”

The 73-year-old songwriter wrote a lengthy Facebook post explaining that the popular song was based on his perception of the organization, saying he “knew nothing about the Y being a hang out for gays.” Y.M.C.A. is an acronym for the Young Men’s Christian Association nonprofit.

“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 said of the lyrics.

Willis added that even though some members of Village People were gay, “Y.M.C.A” was not meant to be about sexuality, and people should get their “minds out of the gutter.”The singer went on to say those assumptions are “damaging to the song” and that starting next year, he and his wife will sue any news outlet that refers to “Y.M.C.A.” as a gay anthem.

Willis said he has received “over a thousand complaints” about the use of “Y.M.C.A” at Trump’s campaign rallies. Trump started using the song on the campaign trail in 2020.

The songwriter added that while getting all the complaints was a “nuisance,” he eventually realized the benefit of Trump using the song and reviving its popularity more than four decades after its release. 

“For example, Y.M.C.A. was stuck at #2 on the Billboard chart prior to the President Elect’s use. However, the song finally made it to #1 on a Billboard chart after over 45 years (and held on to #1 for two weeks) due to the President Elect’s use,” Willis wrote, saying, “the financial benefits have been great.”

“I decided to allow the president-elect’s continued use of YMCA because he seems to genuinely, genuinely like the song and so many other artists were stopping him from using their music,” Willis said on Fox News.

Willis told Fox News the Village People likely would decline to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony but given the President-elect’s role in reviving the 1978 song’s popularity.

“If you were to ask me today if the Village People would perform at the inauguration, I would probably say not because we’d be concerned about endorsement.”

“However, because the president-elect has done so much for YMCA and brought so much joy to so many people, the song has actually gone back to No. 1, and it’s still No. 1 today, so if he were to ask the Village People to perform the song live for him, we’d have to seriously consider it.”