‘Time to bring the country together’: Village People defend decision to perform at Trump’s inaugural events

The Village People, the American disco group whose hits have been regulars at President-elect Trump’s rallies and campaign events, defended their decision to perform at his inauguration next week.

The group made a statement on Facebook announces that it has accepted an invitation from the Trump campaign to participate in activities surrounding his second inauguration on January 20, including an event that Trump is expected to attend.

“We know this won’t make some of you happy to hear, but we believe music should be performed without regard to politics,” the group wrote Monday.

Songs like the group’s iconic anthem “YMCA” and “Macho Man,” both released in 1978, have consistently been part of Trump’s campaign playlists over the years — then-Pres. went viral in 2020 to end his rallies by dancing to the “YMCA”

The Village People now consists of six members, with Victor Willis as the only original member.

“Our song YMCA is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divisive campaign in which our favorite candidate lost,” their statement said, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris.

“That’s why we believe now is the time to bring the country together through music, and that’s why VILLAGE PEOPLE will be performing at various events as part of the 2025 inauguration of Donald J. Trump.”

In 2023,, the group’s manager sent a cease and desist letter to Trump’s team after “Macho Man” was performed at a Mar–a-Lago event. Willis also took to social media during the 2020 campaign to urge Trump to stop using Village People’s songs at his rallies

But in a Facebook post on December 2, 2024, Willis wrote announced that he changed his mind.

The musician also reflected on his decision in an interview with Fox & Friends that aired last month, in which he said that if the group were invited to perform at Trump’s inauguration, they should “seriously consider” the possibility.

Discussing why he changed his mind and allowed Trump to use “YMCA” at his rallies, Willis said it was because Trump “seems to really like the song.”

Willis noted that while he was initially concerned about the use of “YMCA” amid backlash from fans, he eventually decided to contact BMI, the performing rights organization, and asked “not to terminate (Trump’s) political use license because he seemed to bring so much joy to the American people with this use of ‘YMCA'”

When asked if the group plans to perform during Trump’s inauguration, Willis said “no” because they would be concerned that a performance would be seen as an “endorsement.”

After being asked if he would change his mind if Trump invited them to perform, he said they would have to “seriously consider” because Trump “has done so much for the YMCA and brought so much joy to so many people.”

“YMCA,” a single written by Willis and Jacques Morali for the group’s 1978 album “Cruisin’,” became an informal gay anthem over the years.

Willis pushed back on that characterization of the song in his Dec. 2 Facebook post, saying he and Morali never intended it to be that way.

“There’s been a lot of talk, especially lately, that YMCA is somehow a gay anthem. As I’ve said numerous times in the past, that’s a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of the Village People were gay, and that the first Village People album was all about gay life,” Willis said.

“The true anthem is the YMCA’s appeal to people at all levels, including President Elect Trump. But the song is not really a gay anthem except for certain people who falsely imply that it is. And this has to stop because it’s harmful to the song.”