Their success and fame was rising day by day with more hit songs coming out one after another. Songs like "In the Navy" and “Macho Man” was making the top spot in charts and in the meanwhile, a feature film was released in 1980 by the name of Can't Stop the Music about the group. The film’s failure and record as “one of the biggest flops” was not as disheartening as the departure of Willis from the band. After he left, the band didn’t have any “hits” and in order to do what they did best, Willis was asked to re-join the band and in 1982 he joined and made an album named Fox on the Box, which was never released. A year later, he left the group and never returned back.  

Victor Edward Willis was born on the 1st of July, 1951 in Dallas, Texas, United States of America. He was born as the son of a preacher father, who was a Baptist. He was raised in a middle class family, and from a young age was very interested into music. With his particular singing skills, his father made him sing the choir in church and he also learned music as well as acting, in his school. After graduation, he went to New York to pursue a career, and started to work at the Negro Ensemble Company. Hanging around theatre companies, he started to feature in a couple of musical plays, and also appeared in several stage shows. Having written several albums, he released his solo work in an album Solo Man, which was released recently in the August of 2015.

After leaving the Village People, he was silent for long time until news came about him possessing drugs in his place. He was arrested for keeping illegal medicines and narcotics, and after facing certain probation was ordered to attend the Betty Ford Clinic, for rehabilitation. After being treated successfully, he appeared in the media after 25 years and in an interview, said "The nightmare of drug abuse is being lifted from my life... now that the haze of drugs are gone, I'm thinking and seeing clearer now than I have in years... I'm looking forward to living the second part of my life drug-free." Regarding his personal life, he has been married for a couple of times. His first marriage was Phylicia Ayers-Allen, a singer in 1978, only getting divorced in 1982.