JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Vocalist Victor Willis, the former lead singer of the disco band the Village People, has died. According to a post on the band's Facebook page, the 74-year-old Willis died after a short illness. He was not only the band's frontman, but he also co-authored several of the hits that became cultural touchstones. NPR's Felix Contreras has this remembrance.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IN THE NAVY")
VILLAGE PEOPLE: (Singing) In the Navy. Yes, you can sail the seven seas. In the Navy.
FELIX CONTRERAS, BYLINE: There was the construction worker, the cowboy, the biker, the military man, the Native American and the cop. Victor Willis was the cop. He was born in Texas, but grew up in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district when it was largely African American. His father was a Baptist minister, and he got his start singing in the church before forming a soul band while in high school. He studied acting and singing at Antioch College before moving to New York, where he landed a spot in the original production of "The Wiz" in 1975. He was asked to do lead vocals for record producer Jacques Morali in 1977 for a band that existed only on paper. That was the start of the Village People.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IN HOLLYWOOD")
VILLAGE PEOPLE: (Singing) Take a bus, a train or a plane to Hollywood. Go there and then change your name. You dye your hair out there. It's part of the game. You're going to be a star. A big star.
CONTRERAS: Demand for live performances just started to come in quick for a band that didn't exist. So after releasing a debut album, producer Morali quickly put together a group of dancers to share the stage while Victor Willis belted out their initial songs. Then as things really started to take off, the producer recruited permanent members to inhabit the characters that became the band's calling card. Their ad included the line, macho types wanted. Must dance and have a mustache.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MACHO MAN")
VILLAGE PEOPLE: (Singing) Macho, macho man. Macho man, yeah. I've got to be a macho man. I've got to be a macho, macho man, yeah. I've got to be a macho. Ow. Macho...
CONTRERAS: Victor Willis was the principal songwriter of their massive hits, starting with "Macho Man" in 1978. Then he wrote the song that launched an untold number of wedding dance-alongs and became a Grammy Hall of Fame song.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "Y.M.C.A.")
VILLAGE PEOPLE: (Singing) It's fun to stay at the YMCA. It's fun to stay at the YMCA. They have everything for young men to enjoy. You can hang out will all the boys. It's fun to stay at the YMCA.
CONTRERAS: Willis eventually left the band, but the Village People continued to perform Willis' songs, record new material and even appear in "Can't Stop The Music," a 1980 film widely considered a box office disaster. For many years, Willis was in a legal battle to reclaim ownership of over 30 songs he had written for the Village People. He cited a little-used provision of the U.S. Copyright Act that allowed songwriters to reclaim their rights 35 years after they were initially granted. And in 2015, a federal jury ruled that Willis owns 50% of the copyright to several Village People songs. He allowed President Donald Trump to use "Y.M.C.A." at his rallies after initially issuing a cease-and-desist order in 2023. Victor Willis died just two days of what would have been his 75th birthday. Felix Contreras, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "Y.M.C.A.")
VILLAGE PEOPLE: (Singing) YMCA. They have everything for young men to enjoy. You can hang out with all the boys. It's fun to stay at the YMCA. It's fun to stay at the YMCA. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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