Donald Barrett was born in Waukegan, Illinois in 1978, where he began playing drums at the age of three. His roots of his playing started in the church where he became self taught for the next ten years.
In 1996 Donald Barrett moved through high school onto college where he received a Scholarship to study at Northern Illinois University. While attending Northern Illinois University, Donald was put into many different playing situations such as small group (Trio) and Big Band.
During that time Donald was fortunate to study with some of the greats in Jazz music such as Ed Thigpen (master brush player), Wynton Marsalis (world renowned jazz artist and educator).
During the next few years Donald Barrett began breaking into the music club and Broadway scene in Chicago, Il. The two major musicals were "Could it be Magic," which was a Barry Manilow production and "Comfortable Shoes," which was a Clint Holmes (famous Las Vegas entertainer) production.
In June 2003 Donald Barrett relocated from Chicago to LA where he landed his first gig with Big 3 recording artist Impromp2 on the first day of his arrival. During the first six months Donald Barrett toured with the group as they promoted their new CD. Some of the TV dates included Live in Hollywood (UPN) and the US Tennis Open in New York (CBS).
Donald Barrett has also performed with artists such as Gary Bias (Earth Wind and Fire sax player), Frank Macomb, Ludacris (Def Jam Records), Prince, Chaka Khan, Josh Kelley, and Renee Olstead (Warner Bros artist).
In 2006 Donald Barrett became the house drummer for late night TV show 'Last Call With Carson Daly', which is aired on NBC after Conan O'Brien and Donald also spent the summer and fall of 2006 touring with Teen pop sensation and platinum artist Jesse McCartney (Hollywood Records).
In 2007 Donald Barrett hit the road with singer Seal, followed by tours with hip-hop artist P. Diddy, singer P!nk, and the band Pussycat Dolls, plus Nicole Scherzinger, Colbie Caillat and Gavin Degraw among others.