Lead Singer Quits the "Village People"

Former Village People frontman Victor Willis quit the cult disco group because his bandmates were too gay. The In The Navy singer, who was the group's sailor, is revealing all about his time with the Village People in a new book, and insists he never intended the band to become gay icons.

In fact his publicist reveals the group's dance floor super hit, Y.M.C.A. was never written as a gay anthem - and Willis fears their gay image ruined what could have been a "great opportunity". Publicist Alice Wolf tells website Canoe.ca, "Y.M.C.A. was never meant to refer to gay cruising. Victor never intended the homosexual innuendo that many fans read into the song.

"Victor Willis wrote about the Y.M.C.A. and having fun there, but the type of fun he was talking about was straight fun. Wolf insists her client has nothing against homosexuals but still regrets that his band became known as a quirky gay outfit.

Willis is hoping his new tell-all will boost his solo career after a string of legal woes and drug-related arrests. Wolf claims the 56-year-old, who has refused all interviews since 1979, has been sober for 18 months and completed a drug treatment program in April (07).

She reveals he still earns $1 million-a-year in royalties from the disco anthems he co-wrote.

In Related News: Former Village People lead singer Victor Willis has battled drugs for the last 15 years. He was a fixture in bay area crack houses and the "West County Times," newspaper once reported, allegedly, Willis was someone the police wanted to interview, regading the murders of two women, possibly as a material witness. Both bodies were found at a park located in Berkeley. As fast as this story appeared, it disappeared from the headlines without Willis being charged with any crime or being named as a suspect.

When Willis left the Village People, Ray Simpson (brother of Valerie Simpson from Ashford & Simpson) took his place.

In interviews, Willis use to brag about first wife Phylicia Rashad's (Cosby Show) alleged jealousy regarding other women.

Willis' recent bust occured when he was pulled over for erratic driving in a new Corvette.
What few people know, Willis can afford his drug habit, like Rick James. According to recent reports, though he's not publicly performed in years, the reclusive star remains the “wealthiest of all the Village People members due to lucrative royalties he still receives” from his writing credits for hits like "Y.M.C.A.", "In The Navy," and numerous other hits he penned for other artists.