The song became the subject of a seven-year copyright trial between Prado's estate, the music publisher Peermusic, and Bega's producers. While purists scream murder, the upbeat tune and bouncy, '80s-style synthesizers will rule weddings for years to come.' Copyright dispute For this we have to thank the Ugandan-Italian Bega and his German producing team, who have hit pay dirt by tacking new lyrics onto an old Perez Prado song. Critical reception Įlisabeth Vincentelli from Entertainment Weekly rated the song with a B minus, adding, 'All of a sudden, mambo is hot again, and the unlikely city of Munich is on the Latin-music map. The song reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 on 2 November 1999, giving Bega his only top-40 hit in the United States. In France, it set a record by staying at number one for 20 weeks.

Later that year, it experienced success in the United Kingdom, North America, and Oceania. His version became a summer hit during 1999 in most of Europe. German singer Lou Bega recorded a cover of the song and released it in April 1999 as the first single from his debut album, A Little Bit of Mambo (1999).

Who made black mamba song