Carson Daly is currently the host of MTV's wildly popular, TRL show, a combination of a countdown of the top videos of the day chosen by the viewers and special appearances by celebrities. Notables who have recently "dropped in" to visit with Carson include *NSYNC, Janet Jackson, Enrique Inglesias, John Travolta, the Wayans Brothers, Puff Daddy, and Madonna.

Carson Daly first burst on the scene during the summer of 1997 as a permanent "resident" on MTV Motel California. He then hosted MTV Live for the 1997/1998 season from MTV's studio in the heart of Times Square, where he interviewed everyone from Marilyn Manson to the Dutchess of York. Over the course of 1999, Carson has continued to host TRL and has been at the helm of many MTV specials including the MTV 2 Large New Year's Eve party, MTV Snowed In!, MTV's Play a Million, Pay a Million millionth video countdown, Spring Break 2000, and Wanna Be A VJ 3.

Though relatively new to television, Carson cut his chops with an astronomical rise through the high ranks of popular radio.

After graduating from Santa Monica High School, Carson enrolled at Loyola Marymount University, his father's alma mater. Pondering theology or playing the amateur golf circuit were Carson's plans for the future, but all that changed when he became an intern at a Palm Springs radio station. After a short stint in the radio trenches, he was promoted to producer of the KCMJ morning show.

What followed was an insatiable thirst for all things radio. Carson spent six months commuting between his "day" job as a morning show on-air radio talent/producer in Palm Springs and his stint as the overnight disc jockey at a San Diego radio station --100 miles away! He used the overnight shift as a way to define his radio personality. Soon after came San Francisco's Live 105 FM Radio job offer. Carson found himself selling all his personal belongings and hitting the road for the Bay Area.

In 1995, while in a temporary apartment, Daly was offered the coveted afternoon drive shift at KOME-FM in San Jose. His first assignment was to cover the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards live from New York City. The following summer he headed back home as the night voice at LA's World Famous KROQ-FM. From there it was matter of time before MTV realized his talent and snatched him up.

Raised in sunny Santa Monica, California with his sister Quinn, one cat and one dog - Carson developed an early love of television due in no small measures to his mother a former dancer, actress and damn cool mom. Carson's mother currently hosts her own television show at a Palm Springs-area station.

Credit: mtv.com