Daryl Hayott was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil and raised in New York City - Harlem.  He is a multi-instrumentalist who taught himself how to play drums, bass, percussion instruments, keyboards, trumpet and others.

When he was a teenager, a good friend brought him to Electric Lady Studios.  He was issued a challenge to play drums for a piece of recorded music.  He did it so well, he was asked to come in every Saturday to play drums as a session musician for the studio.  He eventually added bass to his repertoire and played bass for sessions also.  He has played on many, many "famous" band's records as a session musician at Electric Lady. Daryl also taught himself to play keyboards.

Notably gifted, Daryl was soon signed by Warner Brothers where he worked to help develop artists musically as well as continue to record as a session musician.  He has toured with  with the international African group Osibissa, Black Ivory, Sade, Al Jareau, Teddy Riley and others.

Daryl was homeless as a teenager for almost two years, literally living on the streets and struggling for survival. Despite that he set records for speed in track and field in high school.  He began to study martial arts at the encouragement of his uncle and his sensei Grand Master Leon Wallace in Harlem. An expert in Gōjū-ryū karate, "Sensei Hayott" won the title of U.S. East Coast Champion three times.  He was a member of the Budweiser Kickboxing Team and was featured multiple times in Karate Illustrated magazine.

Daryl was also in the Marines for two years.

Daryl is a 360 degree artist being proficient in several musical instruments, martial arts and the graphic arts - painting and sculpting. He is currently CEO of his record label, Keep the Light Records.