Day and Prince attended the same high school in Minneapolis and in 1974, as teenagers, became bandmates in the band Grand Central.

Day also appeared on the small screen in 1990 when he portrayed the character Lamarr on ABC's short-lived sitcom New Attitude.

He guest-starred on the sitcom Eve as a pimp who wanted Eve's fashion boutique to design a flamboyant suit to match his witty personality, and appeared as himself in an episode on the series Moesha, attempting to file a lawsuit against Moesha's ex-boyfriend Q, who used a sample from "The Oak Tree" without permission.

He appeared opposite James Avery and Matthew Stewart in a pilot called Heart & Soul produced by Quincy Jones.

In 2018, Will Smith revealed that he auditioned on the spot for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with a script for a "failed Morris Day pilot" that Jones handed to him.