| Lou Bega | |
|---|---|
| Lou Bega performing "Mambo No. 5" live on The Today Show in 1999
| |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | David Lubega |
| Born | April 13 1975 |
| Origin | |
| Genre(s) | Latin pop, Mambo |
| Label(s) | Sony BMG |
| Website | www.loubega.com/ |
David Lubega (a.k.a. Lou Bega) (born April 13, 1975 in Munich, Germany) is a Latin-pop musician famous for his song "Mambo No. 5". This song is a remake of the Perez Prado instrumental from 1952. Bega added his own words to the song and sampled the original version extensively. Bega's mother is from Italy (Sicilian) and his father is Ugandan (Uganda). Bega lived in Miami, Florida during his teenage years. "Mambo No. 5" became an instant worldwide hit, charting in the top 5 across Europe and in the U.S., where it became a popular stadium anthem at sports events. It was also used by the British television broadcaster, Channel 4 for their coverage of Test Match cricket between 1999 and 2005. In 1999 he released the album A Little Bit of Mambo which included "Mambo No. 5" and the hits "1+1=2", "I Got a Girl" and "Tricky Tricky." In the U.S., the final track, "Mambo Mambo", also saw significant airplay. On December 13, 1999, this album was certified triple platinum by the RIAA. To date, he has sold almost 4 million copies in the U.S. alone. He followed this up in 2001 with Ladies And Gentlemen. He recorded the song "Baby Keep Smiling" with Compay Segundo. In 2000 Lou Bega did a commercial for 1-800-COLLECT where the tagline was "Save A Buck Or Two".[1] In the video game Tropico, Lou Bega is one of the characters a player can choose as his dictator persona. He was included as part of a licensing deal that also saw one of Bega's songs integrated into the German release of Tropico. Also, in the Ubi Soft/Disney Interactive video game Walt Disney's The Jungle Book Rhythm n' Groove, Lou Bega participates in a challenge with his namesake. The player dances as King Louie, attempting to dance to Lou Bega's rendition of "I Wanna Be Like You". Doing so will unlock a video of himself with children dancing to the aforementioned song. Lou Bega also appeared in the 2000 MTV Movie Jailbait! as a counsellor. His third studio album, Lounatic, was released in late 2005. The first music video released was "You Wanna Be Americano" followed by "Bachata". His fourth studio album is currently in production.
Album
- A Little Bit of Mambo (1999)
- Ladies and Gentlemen (2001)
- Lounatic (2005)
Singles
- Mambo No. 5
- 1+1=2
- I Got a Girl
- Tricky Tricky
- Angelina
- Bachata
- You Wanna be Americano
- Conchita
External links

