Last updated: 4 days ago
Like the Afro-Cuban and mambo music that inspires his music, Lou Bega (David Loubega) is a hybrid, born and raised in Germany as the son of a Sicilian mother and Ugandan father. He sang and danced as a child, listened to R&B and reggae as a teenager, and was in a rap group, but a trip to Miami as an 18-year-old acquainted him with the songs of the mambo kings of the '30s and '40s. Fascinated by mambo's sounds and stylish fashions, Bega returned to Germany and created his own version of the music. The result was the single "Mambo No. 5," an animated update of <a href="spotify:artist:1ZKhPkCXXgtiGgALn4OYtT">Pérez Prado</a>'s original that went double platinum in Germany in the summer of 1999 and soon became a global hit. It went to number one in several countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and England. In the U.S., it reached number three on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Billboard%22">Billboard</a> Hot 100. Later that year, Bega's full-length debut, A Little Bit of Mambo, met similar success. Subsequent albums, including Ladies & Gentlemen (2001), Lounatic (2006), and Free Again (2010), didn't fare nearly as well on a commercial level. Despite the dip in popularity, Bega continued to tour regularly. His fifth album, A Little Bit of 80s, featured covers of <a href="spotify:artist:47zz7sob9NUcODy0BTDvKx">Sade</a>'s "Smooth Operator," <a href="spotify:artist:6kz53iCdBSqhQCZ21CoLcc">Culture Club</a>'s "Karma Chameleon," and <a href="spotify:artist:4QTVePrFu1xuGM9K0kNXkk">Dexys Midnight Runners</a>' "Come on Eileen." ~ Heather Phares & Andy Kellman
Monthly Listeners
4.7 million
Monthly Listeners History
Track the evolution of monthly listeners over the last 28 days.
Followers
194,562
Followers History
Track the evolution of followers over the last 28 days.
Total Streams
1.8 billion
Total Streams History
Track the evolution of total streams over the last 28 days. This data is calculated from all tracks listed in the artist's discography.
Top Cities
105,926 listeners
60,737 listeners
61,349 listeners
59,219 listeners
54,340 listeners