“I came into music kind of late in life - until I was 17 I wanted to be a spy, wanted to be James Bond, so I had to learn rather quickly and practice longer than most people did to play catch up.”

American R&B and blues musician and activist

Daryl Davis is an American R&B and blues musician and activist. He is known for confronting racism through direct conversation with members of the Ku Klux Klan, and for persuading dozens of Klansmen to leave and publicly reject the organization. He is also known for his energetic boogie-woogie piano style. Over the course of his career, Davis has performed with musicians including Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, B. B. King, and Bruce Hornsby. His work and music both reflect a long commitment to meeting hatred with engagement rather than silence.