The death of Lou Reed has affected many, but perhaps none so deeply as the fans of Lou Bega, because they apparently have so many feelings, they can even spare some for the guy who sang “Mambo No. 5” upon mistakenly believing he died. That was the case this week as Bega—who scored a chart-topping hit in 1999 by abandoning the musings on poverty and political strife of Mambos No. 1 through 4, and made the fifth one about girls—began receiving dozens of messages of condolence from Lou Bega fans, whose obvious disinterest in music led them to easily confuse him for the departed Lou Reed. Eventually Bega himself was forced to post his own message and photo proving he hadn’t died; he’s just out riding the rails somewhere. “R.I.P Lou Reed the Genius who took Walks on the Wild side. Ps: i have been receiving Tons of condolences because of a Journalist confusing our Identities,” Bega said in the post that will hopefully get that journalist fired, because Jesus Christ.
Of course, while Bega is still technically “alive,” even technically releasing records, he long ago lost the little bit of Monica so necessary to maintaining quality of life, so we’re not sure you can even call it that.