The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis[1] following the release of the debut album Village People, which targeted disco's large gay audience.

"[7] French musical composer and producer Jacques Morali and his business partner Henri Belolo, known collectively as Can't Stop Productions, were enjoying a successful string of hits in France and Europe.

After hiring Willis to sing background vocals on the four tracks, Morali approached him and said, "I had a dream that you sang lead on my album and it went very, very big".

[8] Songwriters Phil Hurtt and Peter Whitehead wrote the lyrics for the first album (Willis would subsequently take over writing duties in 1978 for the group's biggest hits).

Morali met the first recruit, Felipe Rose (who claims Native American descent and dressed in costume as "an Indian"[10]) in a local gay BDSM after-hours sex club in Chelsea called The Anvil.

"[8] Glenn Hughes (leatherman), Randy Jones (cowboy) and David Hodo (construction worker) were among the hundreds who answered the ad.

[8] With the "official" lineup in place, the group did a hasty photo shoot for the cover of the already recorded Macho Man album.

The film was directed by Nancy Walker, written by Allan Carr and Bronte Woodard, had music and lyrics by Jacques Morali (except Willis, who penned the lyrics to "Milkshake" and "Magic Night") and starred Steve Guttenberg, Valerie Perrine, Jean-Claude Billmaer, and Caitlyn Jenner.

[13] The soundtrack also featured the talents of David London, who (under his real name Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen) became the future lead singer of the rock band Toto and one of the main contributors to Village People's next album.

In 1981, with new wave music becoming more popular than disco, Morali and Belolo ditched the familiar characters and re-branded Village People with a new look, inspired by the New Romantic movement, and released the album Renaissance.

Willis rejoined the group briefly in late 1981 for the writing and recording of the album Fox on the Box, released in Europe and Japan in 1982 and in the United States in 1983 under the title In the Street.

Jaye contributed lead vocals to a single in 1983 called "America", which would be added as an extra track to the 1999 remaster of In the Street.

[14] Their next album, the 1985 dance/Hi-NRG release Sex Over the Phone, was not a huge commercial success, but it fared better in sales and club play than Renaissance.

Three years later, the Village People recorded with the Germany national football team on its official World Cup '94 song Far Away in America.

In 1995, Eric Anzalone replaced Glenn Hughes as the Leatherman/Biker, and made his music video debut with Kelsey Grammer, Rob Schneider and other cast members during the end-credits of the film Down Periscope, performing "In The Navy" with Ray Simpson on lead vocals.

It was reported in 2001 that 'Gunbalanya', which was recorded with indigenous Australian people, took its title from a word meaning "in the tribe", even though it is in fact the name of an Aboriginal settlement.

[25] In 2015, Victor Willis would release Solo Man, an album he recorded in 1979 featuring the Village People band.

[27] In 2017, after years of legal battles over royalties and songwriting credits, Victor Willis and Can't Stop Productions settled their differences.

On December 31, Village People performed live in Times Square on Fox's New Year's Eve with Steve Harvey and broke a world record for attendees doing the Y.M.C.A.

On June 9, Victor Willis demanded that President Donald Trump not use Village People music at his rallies, in particular "Macho Man" and "Y.M.C.A.

[38] On October 24, Saturday Night Live performed a parody of the group's reaction to Donald Trump's use of their music at his rallies.

[40] On November 7, supporters of President-elect Joe Biden in Philadelphia celebrated his victory in the state of Pennsylvania by dancing in the streets and singing "Y.M.C.A."

[46][47] Due to their easily recognizable characters, the group have frequently been imitated and parodied in movies, television series, video games and music.

According to Jack Fritscher, Jacques Morali drew his inspiration for the character from the dress code of the gay BDSM leather bar and sex club The Mineshaft.

"[51] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau originally found the group to be a humorous annoyance,[52] but warmed to their music after listening to the 1978 album Cruisin'; he wrote in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981): "I give up—I've never been capable of resisting music this silly.

At least this time they're not singing the praises of 'macho,' a term whose backlash resurgence is no laughing matter, and the gay stereotyping—right down to 'The Women,' every one a camp heroine of screen or disc—is so cartoonish that I can't imagine anyone taking it seriously.

[54] In 1985—two months before Mikhail Gorbachev became premier—the soviet communist party's youth wing distributed a secret blacklist of artists and songs to bureaucrats.

[56] At the end of 2024, band member Victor Willis alleged to news media that the group's hit song "YMCA" was not a gay anthem and threatened to sue anyone who disagreed.