His wife almost wanted to file for divorce because of his love for the song.
In reading horror author Stephen King, mental decay and madness is a recurring motif. Apparently King can also take care of this in real life – like with his wife. She would have threatened him with divorce if he continued to play “Mambo No. 5 (A Little bit of…)” by Lou Bega would have wanted to play loudly on a continuous loop.
After the summer hit came out in 1999, “Mambo No. 5” quickly became a global success. Radio and music television stations played the Latin pop number on and off. There seemed to be no escape. Not even in the King house, as the author admitted in an interview with the American “Rolling Stone”.
Stephen King, who became famous for novels like “It” and “The Shining,” was obsessed with Lou Bega’s megahit at the time. A dance remix featured on the EP of “Mambo No. 5”, King probably played loudly up and down until his wife forced him to stop. “I had the dance mix. I loved these extended versions, and I played both sides [der EP]. And one of them was completely instrumental. And I played the song until my wife said, ‘One more time and I’ll fucking leave you,'” King explained in an interview. This was probably the only way to get King to stop listening and save his marriage.
Stephen King on his musical inspiration when writing
In the same breath, the successful author spoke about other artists who accompanied him in the writing process. Basically, Stephen King prefers electro because he doesn’t have to concentrate on the vocals. He was particularly fond of LCD Soundsystem and Fatboy Slim. In the meantime, however, he stopped using music while writing – except when it came to editing. Then “loud rock’n’roll” was his choice.
Stephen King’s new novel “Holly” is available from September 20th. In addition, King’s sci-fi story “The Running Man” is being remade by director Edgar Wright (“Hot Fuzz”) and is scheduled to premiere in 2025. The satirical dystopia first hit cinemas in 1987 with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role.