The Village People Set to Perform for Donald Trump’s Inauguration

The entertainment for Donald Trump’s inauguration is coming into focus, first with country star Carrie Underwood, and now with The Village People.

The President-elect will have the opportunity to perform his famed “Trump dance” to one of his favorite groups during his one of his inaugural balls in D.C. on January 19.

The band and the president have had a rocky road to co-existence, for sure. Back in 2023, the band’s lead singer, Victor Willis, had become upset over Trump’s repeated use of the band’s hit Macho Man and sent a cease-and-desist letter to the then candidate demanding that he stop using the song at his rallies. There wasn’t much that he could do to stop Trump from using the band’s work, though, because Trump had paid for a legal use BMI license for political use.
However, Willis cooled off quite a bit when a year later, he was changing his tune after realizing that Trump’s use of the band’s material was actually spurring people to buy their music. And the increase in income made Willis do a quick turnaround. He ended up saying he was “glad” Trump was using songs from The Village People.

“The financial benefits have been great as well as Y.M.C.A. is estimated to gross several million dollars since the President Elect’s continued use of the song,” Willis wrote last year.

“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,” he added.

The Village People are not performing at the actual inauguration, but country star Carrie Underwood is. Underwood will be performing “America the Beautiful” on January 20 in the capital along with the Armed Forces Chorus and the United States Naval Academy Glee Club.

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