After acting at Donald Trump’s pre-inauguration rally, the Village People underscored their journey from disco-era homosexual icons to MAGA favourites having seen their “YMCA” anthem co-opted by the U.S. hard-right.
Trump used “YMCA” as a music to shut out his rallies throughout campaigning final yr, with the billionaire actual property mogul creating his personal trademark dance — a stiff shuffle of the hips and fist bumps at waist-high degree.
Initially uneasy about being so intently related to the Republican’s anti-immigrant agenda — many different musicians pulled their music from his rallies — the Village People have ended up embracing the eye.
Sunday evening’s pre-inauguration occasion noticed them don their high-camp building employee, police officer, native American, GI and biker outfits to carry out on the Capital One Arena in Washington alongside the president-elect.
“First of all, our performances are not an indorsement (sic) of the President Elect’s policies no matter what you say to the contrary,” Victor Willis, who wrote the lyrics to “YMCA”, mentioned in a Facebook put up on January 16.
“Let’s give President Trump a chance, regardless of what you may have thought about him in the past,” he added. “Let’s see what he’s going to do moving forward and if he does things to restrict LGBTQ rights, Village People will be the first to speak out.”
Relatives of the founders of the group — late French disco producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo — had initially not needed Trump utilizing the music and had been contemplating authorized motion.
Descendants of the pair advised the Nouvel Obs journal in France final week that their requests had been ignored by Trump’s marketing campaign however they’d been suggested by legal professionals to not sue.
“Why did he choose a gay anthem with an Indian and an African-American police officer instead of a song like ‘Born In the USA’ (by Bruce Springsteen) for example?” Morali’s niece Jessica Morali advised the journal. “It’s not even an American song. It’s a French song.”
Willis claims that he succeeded in convincing the French rights holders to “stay out of the Trump campaign’s use of ‘YMCA’ because it is a U.S. matter.”
The police character within the group additionally flummoxed followers final month by saying that the music was by no means supposed as a homosexual anthem –- including that anybody suggesting it wanted to “get their minds out of the gutter”.
The music was a smash hit internationally when it was launched in 1978 and has since change into a mainstream pop staple of faculty occasions, marriage ceremony ceremonies and sports activities occasions.
The Village People title was lengthy assumed to be a reference to Greenwich Village in New York which was the centre of the town’s homosexual scene within the Nineteen Seventies.
Most of the group had been recruited there by Morali, who died of AIDS in 1991, and Belolo.
The music’s lyrics, written by Willis, suggested “young men” to move to the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in New York.
The hostel had “everything for you men to enjoy. You can hang out with all the boys”.
Trump’s consideration has helped herald additional revenues for a perennial hit.
“YMCA” had grossed “several million dollars since the President-elect’s continued use of the song”, Willis wrote on Facebook. “Therefore, I’m glad I allowed the President elect’s continued use of ‘YMCA.’ And I thank him for choosing to use my song.”
© 2025 AFP