The Village People to perform at Trump’s inauguration

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The hits keep coming for queer music fans this week as we continue to get a growing list of artists who, for some reason, have agreed to perform at Trump’s inauguration.

No one was surprised by Kid Rock, but Carrie Underwood felt like a bit of a cut. As if that wasn’t bad enough, we now have to deal with the YMCA’s own Village People also joining the MAGA cult in the lineup of performances for January 20.

Apparently, the president-elect is a big fan of “YMCA,” which has long been a song linked to gay pride, but the issue is a lot more layered than that.

First of all, the group had previously sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Trump team for using their music during the rallies, particularly after videos surfaced of Trump dancing to “Macho Man”.

The complaints extended back to at least 2020 because somehow we've endured three different elections with Trump as the Republican candidate.

The Facebook post the group used to announce their acceptance of the invitation — which has been met with a lot of ire in the comments — downplayed the issues at hand, which start with Trump’s official sentencing of his 34 felony counts less than a week ago and extends to his abysmal response to the current California wildfires destroying the entertainment capital of the world.

“We are announcing today that VILLAGE PEOPLE have accepted an invitation from President Elect [sic] Trump's campaign to participate in inaugural activities, including at least one event with President Elect Trump,” they said. “We know this wont [sic] make some of you happy to hear however we believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics.”

That wasn’t how they felt prior to the election, but I digress.

The group added salt to the wound by saying, “Our song Y.M.C.A. is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost. Therefore, we believe it's now time to bring the country together with music which is why VILLAGE PEOPLE will be performing at various events as part of the 2025 Inauguration of Donald J. Trump.”

Yeah, no one’s buying it.

As let down as we are, we'll hold on to the faintest piece of glimmering hope that this, too, shall pass, and the next four years will be gone before we know it.