Mario Cipollina was born November 10, 1954 in San Rafael, California. He has the nickname of ‘Bad Boy’ and formed half of a distinguished Bay Area rock and roll brother act, with John Cipollina, (who passed away in 1989.) With Quicksilver Messenger Service, John was one of the great guitarists of the psychedelic era. When Quicksilver broke up, Mario, who was 15 at the time, joined his brother in a band called ‘Copperhead’ – but just before the band signed a record deal, his parents forced him to quit. Mario was not deterred though, playing with Soundhole, along with future Newsmen Johnny Colla and Bill Gibson, and Tony Williams Lifetime before signing up with Huey and the News.

Mario was also a member of The Novato Frank Band (whom he recorded with) as well as a member of Terry and the Pirates.

Mario has co-written a couple of The News’s songs, (including “You Crack Me Up” from Sports) and has played the string bass and electric bass for over forty years. His distinctive playing accompanied Huey since the inception of the band until 1994, when Mario left the News to join the rock group Fence. He hadn’t played with the News until August 21, 2007 when he made a surprise guest appearance during the encore of a concert in Sacramento, California.