Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973)
is an American television host, radio personality, producer, and television personality. From 1998 to 2003, Daly was a
VJ on
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
's ''
Total Request Live
''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...
'' (TRL), and a DJ for the Southern California-based radio station
106.7 KROQ-FM. In 2002, Daly joined
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
, where he hosted and produced the
late-night talk show
A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the American Media, United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It is charact ...
''
Last Call with Carson Daly
''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with '' ...
'', and occasionally hosting special event programming for NBC, such as the
Macy's 4th of July Fireworks
The Macy's 4th of July Fireworks is an annual Independence Day (United States), Independence Day fireworks display held in New York City. The fireworks show, usually held over the East River or Hudson River, has been sponsored by Macy's, Inc. ea ...
show, and executive producing ''
New Year's Eve with Carson Daly
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...
'' from
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...
beginning in 2003.
Daly has since been involved in more prominent roles at NBC, such as becoming host for its reality music competition ''
The Voice'' in 2011 and joining NBC's morning show ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* The current day and calendar date
** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone
* Now, the time that is perceived directly, present
* The current, present era
Arts, entertainment and m ...
'' as a
social media
Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
correspondent in 2013, with his role increasing in subsequent years becoming a co-host.
Daly has also worked as a radio DJ. He was a nighttime host on the Los Angeles radio station
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock").
The sta ...
and beginning in 2010, began hosting ''Mornings with Carson Daly'' on its sister station
KAMP-FM.
Daly also hosts a weekly top 30 countdown show ''The Daly Download with Carson Daly'' which is produced by
Audacy, Inc.
Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media ...
(formerly
CBS Radio and is the parent of
KAMP-FM) and syndicated though
Westwood One
Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming.
The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...
. The program airs on Saturday and Sunday mornings in a 3–4 hour edition on CHR/hot AC radio stations.
Early life
Daly was born in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
,
the son of
Coachella Valley
The Coachella Valley ( ) is an arid rift valley in the Colorado Desert of Southern California in Riverside County. The valley has been referred to as Greater Palm Springs and occasionally the Palm Springs Area due to the historic promine ...
TV personality Pattie Daly Caruso (1944–2017), and car salesman Jim "J.D." Daly. His mother is from
Fayetteville,
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
.
His father died from bladder cancer when Carson was a child, and his mother married Richard Caruso (1932–2017).
Daly attended
Santa Monica High School
Santa Monica High School, officially abbreviated to Samohi or SMHS, is a public high school in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1891, it changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus at 601 Pico Bo ...
and was a member of the school's golf team before graduating in 1991. He attended
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...
in Los Angeles but dropped out to pursue a pro golf career.
He is of
Irish descent
and has worked with
Guinness
Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...
on local "Proposition 3–17" to make
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland.
Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...
an official holiday.
Daly served as an intern to
Jimmy Kimmel
James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967), known professionally as Jimmy Kimmel, is an American television host, comedian, writer, voice actor, and producer. He has been the host and executive producer of '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', a late-n ...
in radio.
He began his radio career at
College of the Desert and as an intern at the former KCMJ FM (now
KKUU) under the name "Kid Carson".
Career

Daly began his broadcasting career at the radio station
KOME in
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
.
Daly was then given the 6–10 PM time slot at KOME's sister station
KROQ
KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock").
The sta ...
in Los Angeles.
It was during Daly's time at KROQ that MTV recruited Daly to serve as a VJ during MTV's summer beach house programming called "Motel California".
At the end of the summer of 1997, MTV hired Daly as a permanent VJ, a position which required Daly to relocate to New York.
Once in New York, Daly began hosting ''MTV Live''.
Daly hosted
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
'S
''TRL'' from 1998 to 2003. TRL was based on two previous shows, "Total Request" and "MTV Live", both of which had also been hosted by Daly.
Daly's role as host of the popular live program included introducing the top 10 videos of the day and interviewing celebrity guests.
In 2002, ''
Last Call with Carson Daly
''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with '' ...
'' debuted. The show was shot on the same set as ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' until 2005, when it moved to Los Angeles.
Beginning in 2003–2004, Daly began hosting a
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...
special for NBC, ''
New Year's Eve with Carson Daly
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...
''.
In 2011, Daly began hosting and producing NBC's reality music competition ''
The Voice''. Daly's duties as host included watching blind auditions alongside contestant's family members.
As a producer of ''The Voice'', Daly has won four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program, first in 2013 and again from 2015, 2016, and 2017.
When social media correspondent
Christina Milian
Christina Milian ( , Flores; born September 26, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Following a number of minor television and film roles in the late nineties, Milian made her recording debut on American rapper Ja Rule's 20 ...
departed the show in 2013, Daly became the sole host.
Daly appeared in a brief but pivotal role in the first episode of ''
My Name Is Earl
''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia (producer), Greg Garcia for NBC. It aired for four seasons from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, with a total of List of My Name Is Earl episodes, 96 episodes. It wa ...
''. While in the hospital after being hit by a car, Earl learns about karma from watching an episode of ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' where Daly claims that his success is a direct result of doing good things for other people. Earl is thus inspired by Carson Daly to turn his own life around, and sets out to make up for his many past wrongs.
Daly had a small role on
Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in and co-created the satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) before quitting in the middle ...
's show ''
Chappelle's Show
''Chappelle's Show'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedians Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show and starring in the majority of its sketches. Chappelle, Brennan, and Michele Armour were ...
''.
In September 2013, Daly became the orange room anchor (social media reporter) on the ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* The current day and calendar date
** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone
* Now, the time that is perceived directly, present
* The current, present era
Arts, entertainment and m ...
'' show, as well as serving as a fill-in anchor for
Willie Geist and the show's weekend edition (''Weekend Today''). Since Studio 1A was updated for Election Night 2020 with the Orange Room being covered by a large video wall, Daly's title has been rebranded on Today's website as a feature anchor or co-host. His main contribution to the program every morning is the "PopStart" segment at the end of the 8:00 half-hour, which focuses on celebrity news.
Daly is a founding partner, along with Jonathan Rifkind, Jonathan B. Davis, and Bam Margera, of an
independent record label
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...
, 456 Enterprise & Entertainment, which released the "
Viva La Bands" compilations.
Personal life
Carson Daly resides in the
Village of Flower Hill, on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
.
In March 2000,
Tara Reid
Tara Donna Reid (; born November 8, 1975) is an American actress and model. Her film roles established her status as a sex symbol in the late 1990s through the early 2000s.
In film, Reid is best known for her lead ensemble role as Vicky Lathum ...
met Daly on the set of ''
Total Request Live
''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...
'', and they began dating.
They shared an apartment in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and Daly proposed on October 29.
In June 2001, Reid and Daly broke off their engagement.
Daly became engaged to Siri Pinter, a food blogger,
in 2013.
Her father is actor
Mark Pinter. The couple married on December 23, 2015
and have four children.
Daly is
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
.
Daly has stated that he struggles with
generalized anxiety disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by excessive, uncontrollable and often irrational worry about events or activities. Worry often interferes with daily functioning. Individuals with GAD are often overly con ...
and
panic disorder
Panic disorder is a mental disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder, characterized by reoccurring unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear that may include palpitations, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath ...
.
Radio shows
* ''Most Requested'', syndicated daily show (2001–2006)
* ''Mornings with Carson Daly'',
KAMP-FM,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
(2010–2017)
* ''The Daly Download with Carson Daly'', syndicated (2013– )
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, Carson
1973 births
American radio DJs
American television talk show hosts
Late night television talk show hosts
Living people
Loyola Marymount University alumni
Participants in American reality television series
People from Santa Monica, California
American video jockeys
Catholics from California
People from Flower Hill, New York
American people of Irish descent