Lou Bega
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| Lou Bega | |
|---|---|
 Lou Bega performing "Mambo No. 5" live on The Today Show in 1999
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | David Lubega |
| Also known as | Lou Bega |
| Born | April 13, 1975 |
| Origin |  Germany |
| Genre(s) | Latin pop Mambo Cha-cha-cha Jazz Hip-Hop |
| Occupation(s) | singer, rapper, songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | singing, rapping |
| Years active | 1988-present |
| Label(s) | Lautstark, BMG, RCA Records, Unicade Music, Da Music, Big Records |
| Website | http://www.loubega.de [1] |
David Lubega (a.k.a. Lou Bega) (born April 13, 1975, Munich, West 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.
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[edit] Career
Bega's mother is from Sicily (Italy) and his father is Ugandan. His father came to Germany in 1972, to study biology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. [2] Until age six, Bega spent the most time with his mother in Italy. Then they lived permanently in Munich, because Bega had to attend the German primary school. At age 15 he lived in Miami for one and a half year. Bega also lived in Uganda for a half year. [3] Today he lives in Berlin. [4]
In fact, Bega started his musical career as a rapper. At age of 13 he founded a Hip Hop group with two other boys. Their first CD was released in 1990.[5] When Bega lived in Miami he discovered Latin American music. Back in Germany, the German producer Goar Biesenkamp (better known as Goar B) recognize Bega's talent. Bega signed a recording contract to the label Lautstark. [6]
His first single "Mambo No. 5" became an instant worldwide hit, charting at #1 in the most European countries and at #3 in the United States. In France "Mambo No. 5" spent twenty weeks at #1.[7] That's an unbroken record to date. It was also used by the British television broadcaster, Channel 4 for their coverage of Test Match cricket between 1999 and 2005. [8]
On July 19, 1999 he released the album A Little Bit of Mambo. It peaked at #3 in the USA. In Germany, Bega's native country, it peaked also at #3. In the UK the album peaked only at #50. A Little Bit of Mambo peaked at #1 in the album charts of Austria, Canada, Finland, Hungary, the Middle East, Portugal and Switzerland. [9]
Bega's second studio album Ladies and Gentlemen was released on May 28, 2001. Neither the album nor the singles attained the great commercial success of A Little Bit of Mambo. "Baby Keep Smiling" is on this album, a duet with Compay Segundo from Buena Vista Social Club.[10] A Little Bit of Mambo includes a version without him. Bega covered also the famous song "Just a Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody" on Ladies and Gentlemen.
In the computer 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 Bega's song "Club Elitaire" integrated into the German release of Tropico. [11] 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. [12] Bega also wrote the theme song for the French cartoon series Marsupilami. [13]
Lou Bega works as a co-lyricist for the German Euro-Trance band Groove Coverage.[14]
His third studio album, Lounatic, was released on May 10, 2005. The first single released was "Bachata" followed by "You Wanna Be Americano" and "Conchita".
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | UK | DE | AT | CH | FR | NL | FI | SE | NO | AU | NZ | ||
| 1999 | A Little Bit of Mambo | 3 | 50 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 20 | 3 | — | 28 |
| 2001 | Ladies and Gentlemen | — | — | 54 | 31 | 23 | 109 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2005 | Lounatic | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | UK | DE | AT | CH | FR | NL | FI | SE | NO | AU | NZ | |||
| 1999 | "Mambo No. 5" | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | A Little Bit of Mambo |
| "I Got a Girl" | — | 55 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 5 | 31 | 2 | 12 | — | 31 | 48 | ||
| "Tricky, Tricky" | 74 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 55 | — | — | — | ||
| 2000 | "Mambo Mambo" | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2001 | "Gentleman" | — | — | 35 | 16 | 62 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Ladies and Gentlemen |
| "Just a Gigolo" | — | — | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006 | "Bachata" | — | — | 100 | — | — | 69 | 88 | — | — | — | — | — | Lounatic |
| "You Wanna Be Americano" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007 | "Conchita" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
[edit] Compilations
- 2002: King of Mambo
- 2004: Mambo Mambo - The Best of Lou Bega
[edit] Awards
- 1999: "Best International Song", Festivalbar (for "Mambo No. 5")
- 2000: "International Song of the Year", NRJ Music Awards (for "Mambo No. 5")
- 2000: "Single of the Year (National)", ECHO (for "Mambo No. 5")
- 2000: "Best National Artist in Foreign Countries", ECHO
In 1999 Lou Bega was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category "Best Male Pop Vocal Performance" (for "Mambo No. 5").
[edit] References
- ^ Lou Bega at Sony BMG Germany
- ^ Lou Bega's official website
- ^ Interview with Lou Bega (in German)
- ^ Another interview with Lou Bega (in German)
- ^ Lou Bega's official website
- ^ Artists under contract to Lautstark
- ^ French single chart
- ^ BBC News: "Mambo hit knocks fans for six"
- ^ Chart positions of A Little Bit of Mambo and Mambo No. 5
- ^ Album credits of Ladies and Gentlemen on artistdirect.com
- ^ Official website of the PC game "Tropico" (in German)
- ^ videogames.yahoo.com
- ^ Lou Bega's official website
- ^ Songs Bega has written
