The band that gave us “YMCA” and “Macho Man” will be holding a surprise concert. Iconic disco band Village People will perform in front of the nation at President Donald Trump’s inauguration, scheduled for January 20, 2025.
Village People singer Victor Willis made the announcement on Facebook, writing, “Today, we are announcing that the Village People has accepted an invitation from President-elect Trump’s campaign to participate in inauguration activities, including Trump. This includes at least one event with the president-elect.” Some people may not be happy to hear this, but we believe music should be played independent of politics. ”
Timeless disco band Village People is one of those groups you know by name without even trying. Anyone who has danced in public between now and 1978 knows the national anthem, “YMCA.” And even if you don’t know that song for some reason, you’ve probably heard “In the Navy” or “Macho Man.” Village People’s songs mean many things to many people, but the band’s origins are 100% connected to the gay community of New York City’s Greenwich Village in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
That said, Willis has surprisingly been trying to distance the band from its origins lately. In a Facebook post last December, he claimed that the song “YMCA” was not, in his opinion, a “gay anthem.” Willis also suggested that not all of the Village People’s early records were relevant to the gay community, saying, “…that’s because my writing partner was gay and some of the Village People This is an incorrect assumption based on the fact that (but not all) They were gay, and the Village People’s first album was entirely about gay life. ”
However, the album where “YMCA” takes the lead is the 1978 record “Cruisin’.” The term was part of gay language both in the 1970s and today, so Willis can certainly see why people get that impression. President-elect Trump has frequently used both “YMCA” and “Macho Man” at campaign events. That makes sense on some level. 1978 was the year President Trump began renovating his first hotel in New York City. I believe Trump went to the West Village at that time, right?
Willis also said the purpose of the band’s performance at the upcoming inauguration is that “our song YMCA is a worldwide anthem, and it will help the country move forward after a chaotic and divisive election campaign in which the candidate we were endorsing lost.” “I hope we can bring it all together,” he said. This means he and other members of the Village People voted for Kamala Harris.
President Trump’s inauguration on January 20th will be available to stream on networks such as YouTube.
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