Were any members of the village people gay
Days after original Village People singer and songwriter, Victor Willis, threatened to sue news outlets for characterizing their 1978 hit “Y.M.C.A.” as a gay anthem, the group’s longtime construction worker, David Hodo, has hit back, saying that it is.
On Facebook earlier this week, Willis threatened to take legal activity against “each and every news organization” that refers to the song as a “gay anthem” after January 2025, alleging that his lyrics have lengthy been misconstrued and that the association has grow “damaging.” He also defended Donald Trump’s usage of the track, claiming that the President Elect “seems to genuinely like ‘Y.M.C.A.’” and that Village People have grossed “several million dollars since the President Elect’s continued use of the song.”
But Hodo — who began performing as the construction worker in 1977 and sang backing vocals on “Y.M.C.A.” — has made a announce of his own, clarifying that the song does indeed make intentional references to gay culture.
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“Just to be clear, there would be no ‘Y.M.C.A.’ song
It was a bizarre sight watching a huge same-sex attracted 1970s disco hit organism performed at Donald Trump’s 2025 pre-inauguration rally. Many prominent artists from Beyoncé to Bruce Springsteen prohibit Trump from using their music. So why act Village People – a band synonymous with the 1970s gay liberation movement – allow their melody to be associated with a political movement that has fixed and repressive ideas about sexual persona and morality?
Village People’s recent incarnation has had a complicated relationship with the “make America great again” movement (Maga). In 2020, their song YMCA began featuring at Maga anti-lockdown rallies and soon became a prominent song in Trump’s re-election campaign.
At the time, the band asked Trump not to operate its music and later supported Kamala Harris for the presidency in 2024. Since then Village People have dramatically changed tack.
To be clear, of the group that performed at Trump’s pre-inauguration rally, only one of the unique Village People remains. The band, put together by the gay producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo in 1978, was named after New York’s Greenwich Village gay scene.
Looking for something good? Cut through the nois During the 2016, 2020 and 2024 US presidential election campaigns, the list of musicians who voiced their opposition to their songs organism used by Donald Trump was drawn-out , ranging from ABBA to the Pale Stripes, and — at some aim — the Village People. In June 2020, the band's frontman, Victor Willis, publicly objected to the Trump campaign's use of Village People songs at his rallies. Criticizing Trump's threat to use military oblige against Black Lives Matter protesters, Willis then wrote on Facebook, "Sorry, but I can no longer look the other way." But Willis later had a change of tune, noticing that "Y.M.C.A." was enjoying renewed success during the 2024 campaign: As Trump kept using the iconic punch at his rallies, the 46-year-old path spent several weeks at the superior of Billboard's hottest-selling dance songs chart. "The financial benefits possess been great as well, as 'Y.M.C.A.' is estimated to gross several million dollars since the President-elect's continued utilize of the song," Willis acknowledged in a Facebook display in December 2024. So now, the Village People are ready to If you consideration that YMCA by Village People was a gay anthem, think again. According to Victor Willis, who wrote the lyrics, the eminent song is entirely heterosexual – and anyone suggesting something to the hostile should “get their minds out of the gutter”. “Come January 2025,” Willis added on Facebook, “my wife will originate suing each and every news organisation that falsely refers to YMCA, either in their headlines or alluded to in the establish of the story, that YMCA is somehow a male lover anthem because such notion is based solely on the song’s lyrics alluding to elicit [sic] activity for which it does not.” YMCA appeared on Village People’s third album, Cruisin’. It was an international smash hit, getting to No 1 in 17 countries on its release in October 1978. A much-loved staple at sports events, wedding receptions and learner discos, it has sold 12m copies. In 2020 it was preserved for posterity by the National Recording Registry of the US Library of Congress as “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”, and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. That alike year, Donald Trump started playing it at rallies, If there is a song that is directly associated with homosexual themes, it is YMCA., the immortal theme of the Village People. It was published in November 1978 and It was the only single from their third studio album Cruisin. The group was born in New York in 1977 and, among other things, was characterized by its costumes and the infectious rhythm of its songs. Its creators, the French producers Jacques Morali, They assembled a group whose objective was to draw the gay public, parodying the stereotypes of the group. It was, therefore, a planned and studied project. Its original members were: Víctor Willis (the policeman), Felipe Rose (the Indian), David Hodo (the worker), Alex Briley (the soldier), Glenn Hughes (the motorcyclist) and Randy Jones (the cowboy). Its entitle refers to the Unused York district of Greenwich Village.a key area for the homosexual liberation movement. The song corresponds to the acronym of Young Men’s Christian Association, an ancient Christian association that provides temporary housing for juvenile men. The Village People they sing ab
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