Village People founder reveals why he lets Donald Trump use ‘Y.M.C.A.,’ denies it is “gay anthem”

nme.com:

Village People founder and singer Victor Willis has revealed why he lets Donald Trump use ‘Y.M.C.A.,’ while denying the common sentiment that it is a “gay anthem”.In a Facebook post shared yesterday (December 2), Willis – who sang lead vocals on the track, and is listed as a co-songwriter – talked at length about the song.He explained why he now has had a change of heart – in 2021, Willis shared his relief that, upon Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden then, “it would seem his abusive use of our music has finally ended”.

Willis prefaced that, since 2020, he has received “over a thousand complaints” since Trump had begun using the song on his presidential campaign trail.However, Willis now has had a change of heart: “By the time I said to my wife one day, hey, “Trump” seems to genuinely like ‘Y.M.C.A.’ and he’s having a lot of fun with it.”“As such, I simply didn’t have the heart to prevent his continued use of my song in the face of so many artists withdrawing his use of their material.

So I told my wife to inform BMI to not withdraw the Trump campaign political use license.”In 2020, Willis said he felt forced to act by asking Trump to stop using the song after Trump seemingly threatened to shoot Black Lives Matter protestors in Minneapolis.Willis is co-songwriter of ‘Y.M.C.A.’ alongside French music producer Jacques Morali, who died in 1991. “My French partners were contemplating legal action out of France,” Willis continued. “So I had my wife contact our French partners and asked them to stay out of the Trump campaign’s use of Y.M.C.A.