Village People

Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. Village People is: Victor Willis (Cop/Admiral), Javier Perez (Native American), James Kwong (Construction Worker), Nicholas Manelic (Cowboy), James Lee (G.I.), and James J.J. Lippold (Leatherman).

In 2017 Victor Willis returned to Village People as lead singer and revamped the group. Backed by a live band, Village People continues to tour and thrill concert-goers around the world.

In 2021 Y.M.C.A. was inducted into the US Library of Congress National Recording Registry. In 2022 Y.M.C.A. was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Also in 2022, Village People returned to the Billboard charts with top 10 and top 20 hits from their Christmas album titled Magical Christmas.

The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the release of the debut album Village People, which targeted disco's large gay audience. The group's name refers to Manhattan's Greenwich Village, with its reputation as a gay neighborhood. The characters were a symbolic group of American masculinity and macho gay-fantasy personas. To date, Willis is the only original member remaining with the group.

The group quickly became popular and moved into the mainstream, scoring several disco and dance hits internationally, including the hit singles "Macho Man," "In the Navy," "Go West," and "Y.M.C.A.," which was their biggest hit. In March 2020, the Library of Congress described "Y.M.C.A." as "an American phenomenon," and added the song to the National Recording Registry, which preserves audio recordings considered to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.