This was announced this Wednesday, July 1, by the group on its official Facebook page, in which they expressed their “deep sadness” over the death of Willis on Monday, June 30.
The singer, who would have turned 75, He was the police officer of the group, which was created in 1977 and in which each of its members adopted a different character -The others were a cowboy, a soldier, a biker, a worker and an Indian-.
Willis was the first to join Village People, a project by producer Jacques Morali, who convinced him with a phrase: “I have four songs. Right now I can’t pay you much, but if you accept, I will make you a star,” according to the group’s website.
Born in Texas in 1951, the son of a preacher, Willis began singing in his father’s church choir and trained in New York, where he participated in plays and musicals.
It was precisely discovered in a musical Wiz by the arranger Horace Ott, who was the one who suggested his name to Morali.
Those first four songs –San Francisco (You’ve Got Me), In Hollywood (Everyone’s a Star), Fire Island and Village People– were recorded by Willis together with professional backup singers and were published on the album Village People in 1977.
It was a huge success and the reason why a group was created to accompany Willis. Mark Mussler (worker), David Forrest (cowboy), Lee Mouton (biker) and Peter Whitehead (without a defined character) were hastily chosen for that first formation.
After a first performance on a television show, an announcement was published to change the first members. The text simply said: “Very masculine men wanted for world-famous disco music group. They must know how to dance and wear a mustache.”
And they were joined by Randy Jones (cowboy), Glenn Hughes (biker) and David Hodo (worker), who would later be joined by Felipe Rose (Indian) and Alex Briley (military).
Willis remained in the group for just over two years, during which time he co-wrote worldwide hits such as YMCA, In the Navy, Macho Man, Go West.
At the end of 1979 he decided to embark on a solo career that did not have much impact and returned to Village People in 2017 as lead singer.
The band has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and continues to have great success. In 2025 Village People performed at Donald Trump’s inauguration as president of the United States.
Willis, who for years had serious problems with drugs, was married from 1978 to 1982 to actress Phylicia Ayers-Allen, very popular in the eighties for her role as Clais Huxtable in The Bill Cosby Showand in 2007 he married attorney Karen Huff.