Henri Belolo, the music producer and co-founding architect of the Village People, has died at age 82, the French authors’ copyright board said Monday.
Born in Casablanca, Morocco in 1936 to a sailor and a model, the French songwriter grew up listening to American pop music and African tribal music. After starting out as a DJ, he moved to Paris to work as a music producer for a few years before moving to the U.S. in 1973. There, he met the producer, fellow Moroccan and future business partner Jacques Morali. Together, the impresarios helped pioneer the disco movement during the late 1970s in New York. They assembled and managed the six-piece band that would become the Village People, which exploded into pop culture with huge hits “Y.M.C.A.”, “In the Navy” and “Macho Man” among others.
