The list of show acts that will appear at the “inauguration” of the next US president on Monday, January 20th is complete. In addition to the tried and tested Mississippi rockers 3 Doors Down (who already played at Trump’s first presidential party), Toby Keith, Big & Rich and Jackie Evancho are also in the line-up.
Just like country singer Carrie Underwood, the Village People have now also confirmed their participation. Actually, their current version. Of the original six band characters of the New York disco performers, only “policeman” Victor Willis is still there today.
Change of heart among the Village People
The 73-year-old and his newly formed crew thanked Donald Trump’s team in December for the fact that their hits “YMCA” and “Macho Man” were played many times during the Republican election campaign.
A change of heart. The band and management refused to allow their songs to be used until 2020.
Now, the Village People have announced via their social channels that they will be participating in Trump’s inauguration activities, including at least one event with the new president.
“We know this will not make some of you happy. But we believe that music should be made regardless of politics. Our song YMCA is a global anthem that will hopefully help bring the country together after a turbulent and divided election campaign in which our preferred candidate lost. That’s why we believe now is the time to unite the country with music.”
Village People on Facebook:
Back in December, Willis explained in a lengthy Facebook post why the band had finally agreed to Trump’s “YMCA” campaign. He should have noticed that the politician “seemed to really like YMCA” and had “a lot of fun” with it. Willis noted that the dance tune had “benefited greatly in terms of chart positions and sales.”
As the industry magazine “Billboard” stated, “YMCA” climbed to the top of the “Top Dance/Electronic” chart category during the election campaign in November 2024, more than four decades after its release. And it stayed there for at least two weeks. According to the last original Village People, the song has “easily made millions of dollars since the now president-elect used it.”
The policeman: a ripped-off businessman?
If this commercial view of things speaks for the ripped-off merchant in Willis, further explanations about the interpretation of “YMCA” cause continued irritation.
His comment is consistent with his continued reinterpretation of the Village Pople’s gay history. In his December post, he writes: Any classification as a “gay anthem” would be “completely misguided” and “detrimental to the song.” He even threatened legal action against “every single media outlet that falsely labels the song as such from January 2025.” Although it doesn’t bother him personally when “gays see the song as their anthem.”
A forum participant on Reddit responded with sarcasm. “That would be like Bruce Springsteen saying that ‘Born In The USA’ is actually about someone being born in France.”