Rhiannon Ingle
The singer of an iconic band has shared a message to anyone who thinks their song being played at Trump’s inauguration is supposedly a 'gay anthem'.
Trump is set to celebrate his inauguration next Monday (20 January) and the ceremony's line-up has since been announced. It will include performers like Carrie Underwood and the Village People, known for their costumed character personas.
The Village People are currently comprised of Victor Willis, Javier Perez, James Kwong, Nicholas Manelic, James Lee, and James J.J. Lippold.
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Willis, however, is the only original member still remaining. Tthe American disco group best known for their smash-hits including 'Macho Man', 'In the Navy', 'Go West', and 'Y.M.C.A.'.
He took to Facebook yesterday (13 January) to announce the news, writing: "We are announcing today that VILLAGE PEOPLE have accepted an invitation from President Elect Trump's campaign to participate in inaugural activities, including at least one event with President Elect Trump.
"We know this won't make some of you happy to hear, however we believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics.
"Our song 'Y.M.C.A.' is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost."
Clearly surprised by the news, one X user penned: "Omfg. Trump actually got The Village People to perform at his inaugural ball."
"NO WAY," exclaimed a second while a third chirped: "Can't wait to hear them perform YMCA LOL."
Another gushed: "I’ve always been amused that Trump (and millions of straight newlyweds) love this song so much. And now the Village People will perform at Trump’s inauguration. Yep, go 'hang out with all the boys'."
Willis has since put out a statement regarding the popular disco track being referred to as a 'gay anthem'.
According to Willis, who wrote the lyrics to the 1978 smash-hit, 'Y.M.C.A' is far from a 'gay anthem' and is totally heterosexual.
Willis went as far to suggest that anyone claiming otherwise should 'get their minds out of the gutter'.
"There’s been a lot of talk, especially of late, that Y.M.C.A. is somehow a gay anthem", Willis wrote in a Facebook post. "As I’ve said numerous times in the past, that is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay, and that the first Village People album was totally about gay life.
This assumption is also based on the fact that the YMCA was apparently being used as some sort of gay hangout and since one of the writers was gay and some of the Village People are gay, the song must be a message to gay people. To that I say once again, get your minds out of the gutter. It is not.
"There’s been a lot of talk, especially of late, that Y.M.C.A. is somehow a gay anthem", Willis wrote in a Facebook post. "As I’ve said numerous times in the past, that is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay, and that the first Village People album was totally about gay life.
This assumption is also based on the fact that the YMCA was apparently being used as some sort of gay hangout and since one of the writers was gay and some of the Village People are gay, the song must be a message to gay people. To that I say once again, get your minds out of the gutter. It is not.
"Come January 2025," Willis added later, "my wife will start suing each and every news organisation that falsely refers to YMCA, either in their headlines or alluded to in the base of the story, that YMCA is somehow a gay anthem because such notion is based solely on the song’s lyrics alluding to elicit [sic] activity for which it does not.
"Sadly, when the President Elect started using the song, people attempting to brand the song as a gay anthem reached a fever pitch as many used it to say, oh, Trump don’t know the song is a gay anthem? This was done in a manner to attempt to shame the President Elect’s use of the song.
"As I stated on numerous occasions, I knew nothing about the Y being a hang out for gays when I wrote the lyrics to Y.M.C.A. and Jacques Morali (who was gay) never once stated such to me. In fact, Jacques never once told me how to write my lyrics otherwise I would have said to him, you don’t need me, why don’t you simply write the lyrics.
"I therefore wrote Y.M.C.A. about the things I knew about the Y in the urban areas of San Francisco such as swimming, basketball, track, and cheap food and cheap rooms. And when I say, 'hang out with all the boys' that is simply 1970s black slang for black guys hanging-out together for sports, gambling or whatever. There’s nothing gay about that. "
Tyla has reached out to the Village People's representatives for further comment.