Lou Bega
Background information
Birth name David Lubega
Also known as Lou Bega
Born (1975-04-13) 13 April 1975 (age 37)
Munich, Bavaria, West Germany
Origin Germany
Genres Pop, Latino, Mambo
Occupations Singer, songwriter
Instruments Singing
Years active 1988–present
Labels Lautstark, BMG, RCA Records, Condon Musical Enterprise, Unicade Music, DA Music, Big Records
Website https://www.lou-bega.com

David Lubega (born 13 April 1975), also known as Lou Bega, is a German musician of Italian and Ugandan descent, and is famous for his song "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)". This song is a remake of the Perez Prado instrumental from 1949. Bega added his own words to the song and sampled the original version extensively.

Contents

Biography [link]

Bega's mother is from Calabria in (Southern Italy) and his father is Ugandan. His father went to Germany in 1972 to study biology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.[1] Until age six, Bega spent the most time with his mother in Italy. Then they lived permanently in Munich, where Bega attended German primary school. At age 15 he lived in Miami for one-and-a-half years. Bega also lived in Uganda for half a year.[2] Currently he lives in Berlin, Germany.

Bega started his musical career as a rapper. At age of 13, he founded a hip hop group with two other boys. It would be two years before Bega and his friends' first CD would be released in 1990.[1] When Bega lived in Miami he discovered Latin music. After returning to Munich he met his former manager, Goar Biesenkamp, as well as the music producers, "Frank Lio" (Achim Kleist) and "D.Fact" (Wolfgang von Webenau) (Syndicate Musicproduction) with whom he developed the concept for the song "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)". Bega signed a recording contract to the label Lautstark.[3] Lou Bega’s musical signature consists of combining musical elements of the 40’s and 50’s with modern beats and grooves.

Lou Bega (1999)

His first single "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)" became an instant worldwide hit charting at No. 1 in most European countries including Germany,[4] UK[5] and France[6] and at No. 3 in the United States. In France "Mambo No. 5" spent twenty weeks at #1,[7] which is an unbroken record to date.[citation needed] It was also used by the British television broadcaster, Channel 4 for their coverage of Test Match cricket between 1999 and 2005. [8]

On 19 July 1999 he released the album A Little Bit of Mambo. It peaked at No. 3 in the USA. In Germany, Bega's native country, it also peaked at #3. In the UK the album peaked only at #50. A Little Bit of Mambo peaked at No. 1 in the album charts of Austria, Canada, Finland, Hungary, the Middle East, Portugal, and Switzerland.[9] The second single, "I Got a Girl", charted well entering the Top 10 in some European countries including France, Finland and Belgium.[10] The third single, "Tricky, Tricky" achieved number 18 on the Canadian charts and number 74 on the American Billboard Charts. "Mambo Mambo" reached number 11 on the French charts.

Bega's second studio album Ladies and Gentlemen was released on 28 May 2001. "Baby Keep Smiling" is on this album, a duet with Compay Segundo from Buena Vista Social Club[11] A Little Bit of Mambo includes a version without him. Bega also covered the standard "Just a Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody" on Ladies and Gentlemen.

He sang the theme song for the Disney Channel animated series, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers.

In the computer game Tropico, Lou Bega is one of the characters someone can choose as their dictatorial 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.[12] 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 him with children dancing to the aforementioned song.[13] Bega also wrote the theme song for the French cartoon series Marsupilami.[1]

Bega was awarded the German Echo Prize in two categories as well as being nominated five times. Other accolades include a Grammy Award nomination, a World Music Entertainment Award in Cannes, the Blockbuster Entertainment Award in Los Angeles, the Festival Bar of Verona, the Amadeus Award of Vienna, and the Bunte New Faces Award in Berlin. Lou tours around the world with his band. A 22-city tour of the USA with Cher, live show appearances throughout South America with concerts in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and São Paulo, and a tour through India with stops in Bombay, New Delhi, Madras, Bangalore and Calcutta have been some of the highlights along the way. Over 200 concerts in Europe have attracted over 3 million fans and viewers.

His live shows in Las Vegas, Tokyo, Moscow, Hong Kong and the Emirates were hugely successful.[citation needed] He is a popular guest in both the corporate and public sector, appearing on stage for Royals as well as international corporations. Lou Bega was invited to talk and TV shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Ally McBeal, Motown Live, Jenny Jones, Queen Latifah, Access Hollywood, and others. Bega was the only artist, ever, to be asked to sing a song twice on Germany's headlining show Wetten, dass..? On New Year's Eve 2007 he performed in front of 170,000 fans in Poland. Bega often gets a crack at playing the host. He was the MC at the American Music Awards, at the Grammy Awards, the Billboard Radio Awards, and at the Love Parade in Berlin.

In early 2010, Bega released a new album called Free Again.[14] In summer 2011, Bega performed his first concert from the album at one of the Tampa Bay Rays Summer Concert Series.

Discography [link]

Albums [link]

Year Album Chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
GER
[15]		 AUS
[16]		 AUT
[17]		 CAN
[18]		 FIN
[19]		 FRA
[20]		 NETH
[21]		 NOR
[22]		 SWE
[23]		 SWI
[24]		 US
[25]
1999 A Little Bit of Mambo 3 19 1 1 1 8 17 3 20 1 3
2001 Ladies and Gentlemen 54 — 31 — — 109 — — 23 — —
2005 Lounatic — — — — — — — — — — —
2010 Free Again — — — — — — — — — 78 —

Singles [link]

Year Single Chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)		 Album
GER
[34]		 AUS
[35]		 AUT
[36]		 FIN
[37]		 FRA
[38]		 NETH
[39]		 NOR
[40]		 SWE
[41]		 SWI
[42]		 UK
[43]		 US
[44]
1999 "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)" 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 A Little Bit of Mambo
"I Got a Girl" 19 31 19 2 5 31 — 12 20 55 —
"Tricky, Tricky" — — — — — — — 55 — — 74
2000 "Mambo Mambo" — — — — 11 — — — — — —
2001 "Gentleman" — — 16 — 54 — — — 62 — — Ladies and Gentlemen
"Just a Gigolo" — — — — — — — — — — —
2006 "Bachata" 100 — — — 69 88 — — — — — Lounatic
"You Wanna Be Americano" — — — — — — — — — — —
2007 "Conchita" — — — — — — — — — — —
2010 "Boyfriend" 71 — — — — — — — — — — Free Again
"Sweet Like Cola" 38 — — — — — — — — — —
2011 "This Is Ska"[51] — — — — — — — — — — — TBA

Compilations [link]

Download releases [link]

Year Single Tracks
2010 Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of Monica) 01. A Little Bit Of Monica
2010 Chocolata 01. Chocolata
02. Life
2010 It’s Christmas Time 01. It’s Christmas Time
02. Good Time

Other songs [link]

Year Title Label
2010 Baby Bubble Ball (Dirndl Punk Song) Unicade Music
2010 It Began In Africa Unicade Music

Music videos [link]

Lou Bega and his dancers
Year Title Director(s)
1999 Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...) Jorn Heitmann
1999 I Got a Girl –
1999 Tricky, Tricky –
2000 Mambo Mambo –
2001 Gentleman –
2001 Just a Gigolo –
2006 Bachata –
2006 C'est la Vie (Lou Bega and Edvin Marton) –
2006 You Wanna Be Americano –
2007 Conchita –
2010 Boyfriend Dave Coba
2010 Sweet Like Cola Oliver Sommer

Music video appearances [link]

Year Title Director(s) Notes
2000 I Wanna Be Like You Volker Hannvacker Disney video from the PC Game Jungle Book
2000 Disney Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...) – Radio Disney version of "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)"

Collaborations [link]

  • "C'est la Vie" – In 2006 Lou Bega recorded a song with Edvin Marton, and a music video was also filmed. The song has only appeared on Marton's album Stradivarius as a bonus track and was never featured on any of Bega's albums. A slightly different version of this song was available on Bega's MySpace page at one time.

Awards [link]

  • 1999: "Best International Song", Festivalbar (for "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)")
  • 2000: "International Song of the Year", NRJ Music Awards (for "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)")
  • 2000: "Single of the Year (National)", ECHO (for "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)")
  • 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 (A Little Bit of...)").

References [link]

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  2. ^ "Interview with Lou Bega (in German)". Planet-interview.de. https://www.planet-interview.de/interviews/pi.php?interview=lou-bega. Retrieved 31 March 2012. 
  3. ^ BMG Berlin Lautstark. "Artists under contract to ''Lautstark''". Lautstark.de. https://www.lautstark.de/frameset.html. Retrieved 31 March 2012. 
  4. ^ "Suchergebnis (Search)". https://www.charts-surfer.de/musiksearch.php. 
  5. ^ "Uk Top 40 Hit Database". EveryHit.com. https://www.everyhit.com/. 
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  7. ^ Steffen Hung. "French single chart". Lescharts.com. https://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Lou+Bega&titel=Mambo+No%2E+5+%28A+Little+Bit+Of%2E%2E%2E%29&cat=s. Retrieved 31 March 2012. 
  8. ^ "Mambo hit knocks fans for six". BBC News. 9 August 1999. https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/415421.stm. Retrieved 31 March 2012. 
  9. ^ Chart positions of A Little Bit of Mambo and Mambo No. 5[dead link]
  10. ^ "LOU BEGA – I Got a Girl". Swiss Charts. https://www.swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Lou+Bega&titel=I+Got+A+Girl&cat=s. 
  11. ^ "Album credits of ''Ladies and Gentlemen'' on". Artistdirect.com. https://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,1159342,00.html. Retrieved 31 March 2012. 
  12. ^ "Official website of the PC game "Tropico" (in German)". Tropico.de. https://www.tropico.de. Retrieved 31 March 2012. 
  13. ^ "videogames.yahoo.com". videogames.yahoo.com. 20 January 2012. https://videogames.yahoo.com/ps2/walt-disneys-the-jungle-book-rhythm-n-groove/preview-1061642. Retrieved 31 March 2012. 
  14. ^ LOU BEGA – the official website. "the official website". Lou Bega. https://www.lou-bega.com. Retrieved 31 March 2012. 
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  18. ^ "Canada's Albums positions to Lou Bega". Billboard Magazine. https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100#/artist/lou-bega/chart-history/342120?f=309&g=Albums. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  19. ^ "Finland's Albums positions to Lou Bega". Hung Medien. https://www.finnishcharts.com/search.asp?cat=a&artist=Lou+Beg&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  20. ^ "France's Albums positions to Lou Bega". Hung Medien. https://lescharts.com/search.asp?cat=a&artist=Lou+Bega&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  21. ^ "Holland's Albums positions to Lou Bega". Hung Medien. https://www.dutchcharts.nl/search.asp?cat=a&artist=Lou+Bega&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  22. ^ "Norway's Albums positions to Lou Bega". Hung Medien. https://www.norwegiancharts.com/search.asp?cat=a&artist=Lou+Bega&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  23. ^ "Sweden's Albums positions to Lou Bega". Hung Medien. https://www.swedishcharts.com/search.asp?cat=a&artist=Lou+Bega&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  24. ^ "Switzerland's Albums positions to Lou Bega". Hung Medien. https://www.swisscharts.com/search.asp?cat=a&artist=Lou+Bega&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  25. ^ "US Albums positions to Lou Bega". Billboard Magazine. https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100#/artist/lou-bega/chart-history/342120?f=305&g=Albums. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  26. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2000 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. https://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-accreditations-albums-2000.htm. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  27. ^ a b "IFPI Austria – Gold & Platin" (in German). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry – Austria. https://www.ifpi.at/?section=goldplatin. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  28. ^ "Canadian album certifications". Music Canada. https://www.cria.ca/gold/0101_g.php. Retrieved 16 July 2010. 
  29. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1999". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. https://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/plat1999.html. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  30. ^ "French album certifications" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. https://www.disqueenfrance.com/fr/pag-259165-CERTIFICATIONS.html&type=11. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  31. ^ a b "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Lou Bega)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. https://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=&strInterpret=Lou+Bega&strTtArt=alle&strAwards=checked. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  32. ^ a b "Swiss Awards 1999". Hung Medien International Federation of the Phonographic Industry – Switzerland. https://www.swisscharts.com/awards.asp. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  33. ^ "American album certifications – Lou Bega". Recording Industry Association of America. https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=Lou+Bega. Retrieved 16 July 2010.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  34. ^ "Chartverfolgung/Bega,Lou/Singles" (in German). Musicline.de. https://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Bega%2CLou/?type=single. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  35. ^ "Australia's Singles positions to Lou Bega". Hung Medien. https://www.australian-charts.com/search.asp?cat=s&artist=Lou+Bega&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  36. ^ "Austria's Singles positions to Lou Bega". Hung Medien. https://www.austriancharts.at/search.asp?cat=s&artist=Lou+Bega&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  37. ^ "Finland's Singles positions to Lou Bega". Hung Medien. https://www.finnishcharts.com/search.asp?cat=s&artist=Lou+Beg&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
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  39. ^ "Holland's Singles positions to Lou Bega". Hung Medien. https://www.dutchcharts.nl/search.asp?cat=s&artist=Lou+Bega&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  40. ^ "Norway's Singles positions to Lou Bega". Hung Medien. https://www.norwegiancharts.com/search.asp?cat=s&artist=Lou+Bega&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  41. ^ "Sweden's Singles positions to Lou Bega". Hung Medien. https://www.swedishcharts.com/search.asp?cat=s&artist=Lou+Bega&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  42. ^ "Switzerland's Singles positions to Lou Bega". Hung Medien. https://www.swisscharts.com/search.asp?cat=s&artist=Lou+Bega&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
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  44. ^ "US Singles positions to Lou Bega". Billboard Magazine. https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100#/artist/lou-bega/chart-history/342120?f=379&g=Singles. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
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  47. ^ "Dutch Certification to Mambo No.5". NVPI}accessdate=2010-07-13. https://www.nvpi.nl/nvpi/pagina.asp?pagkey=61112&documentid=1235647&zoekform=60463&formposted=yes. 
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  50. ^ "Certifications Singles Argent – année 2001" (in French). Disque en France. https://www.disqueenfrance.com/fr/page-259165.xml?year=2001&type=6. Retrieved 13 July 2010. 
  51. ^ "Jimmy Johansson: Comment by Lou Bega regarding new single This Is Ska [Lou Bega: Hi Jim thx 4 the franks. New one is out in German Clubs. It's called "This is Ska"]". Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/loubegaofficial. Retrieved 11 June 2011. 

External links [link]


https://wn.com/Lou_Bega

Podcasts:

Lou Bega

ALBUMS

Beautiful World (A Little Collection Of Lou Bega's Best)

Released 2013

Free Again

Released 2010

Lounatic

Released 2005

Ladies and Gentlemen

Released 2001

A Little Bit of Mambo

Released 1999

King of Mambo

Email this Page Play all in Full Screen Show More Related Videos
PLAYLIST TIME:

Baby Keep Smilin'

by: Lou Bega

It´s hot outside so for me it is a brand new day that I shall kiss
and if you feel the same way too then do the things that I'm gonna do
all you need is a mobile phone to tell everybody: we are not at home
and if you have to work all day
then listen what I got to say
Baby keep smilin´
you know the sun is shinin
baby keep smilin´ [4x]
I put on my glasses
and tell you how sweet your ass is
so would jump in my caddy
and call me your sweet sweet daddy
all we need is a mobile phone to tell everybody:we are not at home
and if you have to work all day
then listen what I got to say
Baby keep smilin´
[shup shup shup do wa]
you know the sun is shinin´.......cont...
.keep on smiling keep on shining........




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