Becoming a MTV VJ was the last thing on Carson Daly's mind. In fact, Daly aspired to become a priest or a professional golfer, not a MTV icon.
Born in Santa Monica, California, Daly grew up with strong Christian beliefs. He was a lover of golf and was part of the Santa Monica High School Vikings golf team. His hard work on the course paid off when he was awarded a partial golf scholarship to Loyola Marymount University where he opted to major in Theology.
By the end of his first semester, Daly dropped out of Loyola Marymount University and relocated to Palm Springs, California. He had given up his dreams of becoming a priest and decided to put his full focus on playing golf professionally. While in Palm Springs, Daly reunited with an old friend who offered him an internship at KCMJ. Daly made such an impression on the staff at the radio station that he began producing the station's morning show. He then began working part time at LIVE 105 and shortly after, Daly became one of their popular on air dee jays.
Daly has been credited as the first person in the United States to interview singer Alanis Morissette. He also played a big part in the success of the group Smashmouth. In 1996, Daly relocated to the popular KROCK station in California. It was as a DJ for KROCK that he was discovered by MTV. In 1997, Daly became the host of MTV LIVE. He then went on to host the ever-popular MTV TRL (1998). In 2002, Daly was seen not only during the day, but began hosting the night show, "Last Call with Carson Daly."