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In case his decades-long bibliography didn’t convince you that there’s something a little off about Stephen King, then his favorite song while writing certainly will.
During a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the legendary horror/thriller/sci-fi writer revealed that he used to listen to Lou Bega’s 1990s “Mambo No. 5” on repeat and that he only stopped because his wife threatened to divorce him.
“I had the dance mix … And I played that thing until my wife just said, ‘One more time, and I’m going to f—— leave you,'” King told Rolling Stone.
King was speaking to the magazine about the release of his new book Holly, which hit bookstores on Tuesday, September 5.
The book features Holly Gibney as the main character, who previously appeared in King’s novels Mr. Mercedes in 2014, Finders Keepers in 2015, and End of Watch in 2016. The character was also featured heavily in the 2018 King novel The Outsider, which was later adapted into an HBO series. In the HBO version, Holly Gibney was played by Cynthia Erivo.
Originally released by Perez Prado in 1950, the song regained recognition in the late 90s after German artist Lou Bega sampled the song and released it on his own album, A Little Bit of Mambo.
Bega’s version of “Mambo No. 5” would go on to become a staple of weddings, bar mitzvahs, Sweet 16s, sleepaway camp canteens, and so on.