The Village People, the group behind iconic hit YMCA, think their song will help heal divides in the USA after a backlash about their decision to perform it at Donald Trump’s inauguration
The Village People want YMCA to ‘bring the country together'(Image: Getty Images)
Disco group The Village People believe hit song YMCA will help unite the world as they prepare to perform it at Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The seventies group have come under fire for agreeing to perform the song on Monday after it became the big orange manbaby’s unofficial theme tune on his campaign trail. But the iconic band, who also sang Macho Man, said their song could help bring people together after bitter political divides left many despairing at Trump’s re-election.
Lead singer Victor Willis said they had agreed to perform even though they had voted for Trump’s opponent Kamala Harris. Victor, 73, the only original member still in the group, said: “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 YMCA is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost.
The song will be performed at Donald Trump’s inauguration(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“Therefore, we believe it’s now time to bring the country together with music which is why Village People will be performing at various events as part of the 2025 Inauguration of Donald J. Trump.”
They will join other artists including Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Billy Ray Cyrus and Kid Rock, to perform at multiple inaugural activities, including at least one event with the president-elect himself.
The group, along with many other performers, have been accused by many of selling out due to Trump’s anti-LGBTQ stance. However Willis, who will perform at an inauguration ball hosted by the Right-wing campaign group Turning Point on Sunday night, recently denied the song was a gay anthem.
“Come January 2025,” Willis said on Facebook, “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 illicit activity for which it does not.”
Trump has been seen dancing along to the 1978 anthem on his campaign rallies while pumping his fists in the air. The decision to perform the hit comes after the group urged him to stop using their music during his first term in 2020.
But Trump’s use of YMCA helped the song top the US dance/electronic charts the week after his election victory. Willis said the band had ‘benefited greatly’, adding that the president-elect “seems to genuinely like YMCA”.