Stephen King Says He Played the '90s Hit "Mambo No. 5" So Much That His Wife Threatened to Leave Him
Stephen King is the master of horror, writing over 65 novels and novellas, as well as several more under a pen name. He has brought us the stories behind classics like The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, Stand By Me, The Green Mile, and so much more, but who could have guessed that King is a huge fan of the ‘90s pop song “Mambo No. 5”? Not me!
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone (via Variety) to promote his latest novel, Holly, King revealed his wife once threatened to divorce him due to his love of the infamous earworm track.
“Oh, yeah. Big time,” King said when asked if the rumors about his love for “Mambo No. 5” are true. “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. 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 fucking leave you.'”
King must’ve stopped, as he’s still happily married to Tabitha King, his wife since 1971. The author said his wife’s ultimatum arrived while he was writing 11/22/63, his 2011 novel about a time traveller who tries to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
King detailed more of his daily listening in the interview.
“When I write, there are things that I can listen to a lot. And a lot of it is techno stuff or disco stuff, but techno in particular. There’s this group called LCD Soundsystem, and I love that. Fatboy Slim is somebody else. I can just listen to that stuff. If you tried to write and listen to Leonard Cohen, how the fuck would you do that? Because you’d have to listen to the words and you’d have to listen to what he’s saying. But with some of the techno stuff, or KC and the Sunshine Band, Gloria Gaynor, it’s all good.”
What is King currently listening to?
“Lately, I think that I’ve been sort of stuck on Foghat and Bob Seger, people like that. But I’ve also been listening to a fair amount of country music. So a lot of Travis Tritt and Alan Jackson, people like that.”
King’s new book, Holly, is now available for purchase. Do you listen to music when you work? I jump between listening to Brandi Carlile and watching shows I’ve seen on repeat like Schitt’s Creek or Everybody Loves Raymond. What about you?