March 4, 2001 – Glenn Hughes (Village People) was born on July 18th 1950. He graduated from Chaminade High School in 1968 and then attended Manhattan College, where he was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity in 1969.
While a toll booth collector at the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, he responded to an advertisement by composer Jacques Morali seeking “macho” singers and dancers for the disco group “the Village People”. Glenn and other members of the band were given a crash course in the synchronized dance choreography that later typified the group’s live performances.
He became the original “Biker” character in the disco group Village People from 1977 to 1996. Glenn’s powerful bass voice played an important part in the background lyrics of almost all Village People’s most known hits, such as YMCA and In the Navy.
In 1996, he retired from dancing and launched his own successful New York cabaret act, until lung cancer was diagnosed. However, he did continued with management of the band. His iconic handlebar moustache and leather clothing have made Glenn a gay archetype yet Glenn was heterosexual. During his later years, he was known for storming the streets of New York with his Custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Sadly he succumbed to lung cancer at age 50 on March 4, 2001.
