Lou Bega's mother is from Sicily (Italy) and his father is Ugandan. His father came to Germany in 1972, to study biology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Until age six, Bega spent the most time with his mother in Italy. Then they lived permanently in Munich, because Bega had to attend the German primary school. 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. Their first CD was released in 1990. When Bega lived in Miami for a year and a half, he discovered Latin American music. Back in Germany, the German producer Goar Biesenkamp (better known as Goar B) recognized Bega's talent. Lou signed a recording contract to the label Lautstark.

His first single "Mambo No. 5" became an instant worldwide hit, charting at #1 in most European countries and at #3 in the United States. In France "Mambo No. 5" spent twenty weeks at #1, which is an unbroken record to date. It was also used by the British television broadcaster, Channel 4 for their coverage of Test Match cricket between 1999 and 2005.

On July 19, 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.

Bega's second studio album Ladies and Gentlemen was released on May 28, 2001. Neither, the album nor the singles attained the great commercial success of A Little Bit of Mambo. "Baby Keep Smiling" is on this album, a duet with Compay Segundo from Buena Vista Social Club. A Little Bit of Mambo includes a version without him. Bega covered also the famous song "Just a Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody" on Ladies and Gentlemen.

His third studio album, Lounatic, was released on May 10, 2005. The first single released was "Bachata" followed by "You Wanna Be Americano" and "Conchita".