Stephen King Enjoys 1999's "Mambo No. 5" So Much That His Wife Threatened To Divorce Him

Stephen King is back in the news because he just released his latest book, Holly, and as part of an interview with Rolling Stone to promote it, the iconic author shared a wild story about his love of the Lou Bega song "Mambo No. 5." It's been known that King is a fan Lou Bega's 1999 cover of the instrumental tune, but King loves it so much that it nearly ended his marriage.

"My wife threatened to divorce me. I played that a lot. I had the dance mix. I loved those extended play things, and I played both sides of it," King said (via The AV Club). "And one of them was just total instrumental. And I played that thing until my wife just said, 'One more time, and I'm going to f**king leave you.'"

King has been married to his wife Tabitha since 1971, and it sure would have been quite a story if their long-lasting marriage ended thanks to "Mambo No. 5." King apparently came to his sense and stopped playing the song, at least when Tabitha was within range of hearing it.

"Mambo No. 5" was an inescapably popular song in 1999 and the early 2000s, and in the US, it was never released as a single. So fans had to buy the full album to hear the track.

As for King's new book, Holly focuses on the character Holly Gibney, a detective who previously appeared in King's books Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and The Outsider. In the new book, Holly is having a tough time with her partner having COVID and her mother recently passing away. Holly is supposed to be taking time off but she gets roped back in to square off against a "pair of unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries."

King has written dozens of novels over the years and many have been adapted for film and TV, including Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, It, Carrie, Children of the Corn, Stand by Me, Misery, and The Shining.