Victor Willis, Village People's founding lead singer and the voice behind "Y.M.C.A.," died June 30 after what the band called a short but aggressive illness. He was 74, one day short of his 75th birthday. [1][2]

The paper's July 1 obituary said Y.M.C.A. had become contested property: Pride anthem, rally staple, and copyright claim. The tighter version is that Willis died owning both the song and the argument.

Yahoo traced the public life: Dallas birth, church singing, Broadway work, the 1977 Village People launch, and the 1978 hit that became one of disco's permanent artifacts. [1] USA Today adds the legal afterlife: Willis rejoined the group in 2017 after battles that included a 2012 copyright case allowing him to terminate rights to early songs. [2] He also co-wrote "In the Navy" and "Macho Man," which made him more than the face in the costume. [2]

MSM files the obituary as disco memory. X fights over the song's politics, especially after its Trump-rally second life. The strange dignity of Willis's career is that he refused to let either camp fully own it. Everyone gets the chorus. He got the credit, the stage, and the last word of ownership in public forever.

-- CHARLES ASHFORD, London