A singer and co-writer on the Village People’s mega-hit “YMCA” says the 1978 tune has “benefited greatly” from being a favorite on President-elect Trump’s playlist.
In a Monday post on Facebook, Victor Willis described why he “allowed President-elect Trump’s continued use” of the song over the years.
“Since 2020, I’ve received over a thousand complaints about President Elect Trump’s use of Y.M.C.A.,” Willis told his followers of the song, which has long been a staple on the campaign trail for Trump. A video montage of Trump dancing to “YMCA” was played at the Republican National Convention in July.
While Willis noted that several musical artists have attempted to distance themselves from Trump over the years — performers including Celine Dion, Foo Fighters and The White Stripes have pushed back on the use of their songs at his rallies — the lyricist said that the 45th president “seems to genuinely like ‘YMCA’ 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,” Willis, 73, said.
“Y.M.C.A. has benefited greatly from use by the President Elect,” he said.
“For example, Y.M.C.A. was stuck at #2 on the Billboard chart prior to the President Elect’s use. However, the song finally made it to #1 on a Billboard chart after over 45 years (and held on to #1 for two weeks) due to the President Elect’s use,” he added.
Willis extolled the “financial benefits” of Trump’s fondness for the ’70s classic, saying it’s “estimated to gross several million dollars since the President Elect’s continued use of the song.”
“Therefore, I’m glad I allowed the President Elect’s continued use of Y.M.C.A. And I thank him for choosing to use my song,” Willis said.
The entertainer also denounced referring to “YMCA” as a “gay anthem,” calling it a “false assumption” that’s been “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,” Willis said.
“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,” he wrote in the Facebook post.
“The true anthem is Y.M.C.A.’s appeal to people of all strips [sic] including President Elect Trump,” Willis said. “But the song is not really a gay anthem other than certain people falsely suggesting that it is. And this must stop because it is damaging to the song.”
