Former Village People member says original band ‘would never’ play Trump rally
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Jim Newman claims band who performed at inauguration is ‘entirely separate entity’ from group he was in. A former member of Village People has distanced himself from the band that performed at Donald Trump’s inauguration events, stating that the current group has “nothing to do with the group that I was a part of”.
Village People, whose song YMCA is widely considered a gay anthem and a favorite of the returning US president’s, performed at several of Trump’s inaugural events over the weekend and on Monday. However, only one original member, the lead singer and songwriter Victor Willis, 73, is still part of the band and participated in the performances.
Jim Newman, a former Village People band member, addressed his followers on Instagram last week ahead of the inauguration, and argued that the Village People that performed at Trump’s inaugural events was not the original group. “Our Village People would never, ever perform at Trump rally,” Newman said. “We would never give him the right to use those songs, and we would never slap the face of the strong, especially gay audience, that made us who we are today.”.
In the caption of the post, Newman added: “Neither myself or any of my band mates will be performing at Trump’s rallies,” adding that the current band is a “entirely separate entity than the long Storied Village People I had the honor of being in for 8 years”.
