Ray Simpson (born The Bronx January 15, 1954) is the lead singer of the Village People. He has taken the role of the "Cop", replacing original lead singer, Victor Willis. Like his predecessor, Simpson is straight. He started doing some backup singing for Village People in its first years, which is why he was he was recruited (on very short notice) to join the group when Willis left. His most memorable recordings with the group are from the days of Village People film, Can't Stop the Music, a film which hastened the end of the group's heyday. His voice is not originally heard on any of the Village People hits, though it was later dubbed on several of the group's biggest hits.
Born and raised in the Bronx, he is a graduate of City College of New York, majoring in English and minoring in music.
Simpson additionally had a solo career and many years performing with his sister and brother-in-law, Valerie Simpson and Nick Ashford. Prior to Village People, Simpson released a solo recording album entitled Tiger Love.
Read more about Ray Simpson: Personal Life
Famous quotes containing the words ray and/or simpson:
“How false is the conception, how frantic the pursuit, of that treacherous phantom which men call Liberty: most treacherous, indeed, of all phantoms; for the feeblest ray of reason might surely show us, that not only its attainment, but its being, was impossible. There is no such thing in the universe. There can never be. The stars have it not; the earth has it not; the sea has it not; and we men have the mockery and semblance of it only for our heaviest punishment.”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900)
“I don’t want to stay on the line. He’s going to beat the s— out of me.”
—Nicole Brown Simpson (1957–1994)