From gay clubs to Maga anthem: the absurd, contested history of the Village People’s YMCA
A barely recognizable version of the band performed the 1978 classic at Donald Trump’s inauguration, the latest chapter in a strange tale of disco, feuds and showboating
Jim Newman was over it. “Hell no!” Newman, a Village People member for eight years in the 2010s, wrote in a 15 January Instagram post. “Neither myself or any of my band mates will be performing at Trump’s rallies.” Newman had received a slew of texts asking if he would be on stage with the president in the leadup to the inauguration, and he wanted to set the record straight. “Our Village People would never ever perform at a Trump rally; we would never give him the rights to use those songs.”
Donald Trump has been slowly adopting the song as a campaign anthem since 2018, playing it at rallies and dancing on stage to it. It became a favorite at anti-lockdown rallies, DJ Steve Bannon has spun it and Trump helped it hit No 1 decades after its release on Billboard’s dance/electronic sales chart. It all peaked with a performance of the song by a group calling themselves Village People but containing only one original member, the “cop” Victor Willis, at the inauguration ball. The song was co-written in 1978 by Willis and the French songwriting/production duo Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo.
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Former Village People member says original band ‘would never’ play Trump rally
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