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Lou BegaBachataI Got A GirlMambo, MamboMambo No. 5Sweet Like Cola
Bega's mother is from Calabria (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. 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. His first single "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)" became an instant worldwide hit charting at #1 in most European countries including Germany,[4] UK[5] and France [6] and at #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 #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 #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 May 28, 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 Culcutta 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. AUS: Platinum[26] 2001 Ladies and Gentlemen 54 — 31 — — 109 — —
23 — — AUS: 4× Platinum[45] A Little Bit of Mambo SWE: Gold[48] "Tricky, Tricky" —
— — — — — — 55 — — 74 FRA: Silver[50] 2001 "Gentleman" —
— 16 — 54 — — — 62 — — Ladies and Gentlemen 2002: King of Mambo [edit] Download Releases "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. [edit] Awards 1999: "Best International Song",
Festivalbar (for "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)") In 1999 Lou Bega was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category "Best Male Pop Vocal Performance" (for "Mambo No. 5)
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