Cleto Escobedo III: Jimmy Kimmel pays tribute to 'great friend' following chat show bandleader's death aged 59
US late-night chat show host Jimmy Kimmel has paid tribute to his childhood friend and bandleader Cleto Escobedo III following his death at the age of 59.
Kimmel took to Instagram to announce the passing of Escobedo, whom he has been friend with since the pair were nine years old. In his post, the chat show host said: “Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III.
“To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement. Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was nine years old.
“The fact that we got to work together every day is a dream neither of us could ever have imagined would come true. Cherish your friends and please keep Cleto’s wife, children and parents in your prayers.”
The pair became friend after Kimmel’s family moved to Las Vegas in 1997, with the pair developing a friendship that would last decades.
Escobedo was a talented musician, performing the saxophone on tour with artists such as Paula Abdul and Marc Anthony in his early career. He worked with Kimmel on his Comedy Central show The Man Show before getting the offer to join the band on Jimmy Kimmel Live! from its inception in 2003.
He performed as part of Cleto and the Cletones, alongside his father Cleto Sr., on the show from the first episode until his death 22 years later. Escobedo was also involved with the creation of the late night chat show’s theme song alongside Jonathan Kimmel, Jimmy’s brother, and Les Pierce.
A teary Kimmel also delivered a eulogy for Escobedo during the monologue on the most recent episode of his show. He said: “We've been on the air for almost 23 years and I've had to do some hard monologues along the way, but this one's the hardest because late last night, early this morning, we lost someone very special who was much too young.”
He added: “Everyone loves Cleto... everyone here at the show. We are devastated by this. It's not... It's just not fair.”
He also revealed that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would not be airing on Wednesday, November 12 and Thursday, November 13 while the cast and crew grapple with the tragic news.