Beggars & Thieves was formed in NYC in 1989 by singer Louie Merlino and guitarist Ronnie Mancuso. After 5 gigs and a demo recorded with mega producer Desmond Child (Bon Jovi, Aerosmith) and (Billy Squier, Alice Cooper) drummer Bobby Chouinard and (Bon Jovi bassist) Hugh McDonald, B&T was signed by Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun.
Released on Atlantic around Christmas of 1990, Beggars & Thieves self-titled debut was critically acclaimed. The first single (“Beggars & Thieves”) started to take off, charting in the top 40 Billboard Magazine Album Rock Charts and being added to rotation on over 100 Parallel One AOR radio stations.
The band then lost momentum when their A&R man left the label and their managers Q-Prime (Metallica, Def Leppard and Muse) were understandably distracted by the death of one of there biggest clients, Def Leppard guitarist Steve Clark. By the time Q-Prime regained their focus, Atlantichad moved on. Q-Prime still believing in the band managed to get Beggars released from Atlanticand immediately signed them to Epic/Sony.
Beggars recorded their second album “Look What You Create” in Vancouverwith (Aerosmith, Scorpions, Bryan Adams) collaborator Jim Vallance and (Rush, Dream Theater) engineer Paul Northfield. By the time of the release, Grunge was king and Beggars (although really a Classic Rock Band) were lumped in with the hair bands and pass their due date.
Ronnie & Louie stayed in the music business doing jingles as well as lots of music for Fox Sports and NASCAR.
Louie and Ron started playing together again in 2004 forming Sin City All-Star’s with (Ex-Faster Pussycat Guitarist) Brent Muscat, opening shows for Tesla, Vince Neil, Ratt, Slaughter, and Skid Row.
Mancuso started writing songs again so Beggars started the recording the basic tracks of “We Are the Brokenhearted” with legendary NYC drummer Thommy Price (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Billy Idol, Scandal) and his cohort in the (Blackhearts) bassist Enzo Penizzotto.

While finishing their album, Beggars started playing live when Vince Neil along with Las Vegas Legend Custom Motorcycle Builder (The Count) opened the club Feelgoods in Las Vegas, Ronnie & Louie’s hometown since the early 2000’s.
Rounding out the group now is drummer Erik Gloege, who played for years in a rhythm section with (Metallica) bassist Robert Trujillo and 22 years old bassist Blake Newman, whose youth has invigorated the band.

Beggars played the renowned Firefest Festival 2010 inNottingham, Englandwhere they received glowing reviews and were voted biggest surprise of the festival. Beggars have just begun re-establishing their brand after using Firefest as their launching pad.