Remembering Victor Willis: How He Wrote the Disco Anthem “Y.M.C.A.”

–Victor Willis, the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the Village People, died yesterday at the age of 74, his wife announced in a statement this morning. The Library inducted “Y.M.C.A.” into the National Recording Registry in 2020 and I caught up with him for a delightful phone interview. He politely recounted, in detail, how he had written one of the most iconic songs in American pop music history. We reprint it below in honor of his passing.  Victor Willis, Mr. “Y.M.C.A.” himself, has just come upstairs from his home gym in San Diego and grabbed the telephone. Couple miles on the treadmill, pushups, weights. He’s 68, the founder and lead songwriter of the Village People and, until the coronavirus shutdowns, had 50 or 60 shows lined up this year. “We were booked all through the year, all over the world,” Willis says. The voice coming down the line is energetic, upbeat. Despite the postponed gigs, he’s in a good place after decades of turmoil. He’s happily married, wealthy and won a landmark copyright case a few years ago to obtain 50% royalties on the Village People hits that he co-wrote, which is all of them. He also regained control…

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