Cliff Notes – Jimmy Kimmel announces death of best friend and band leader Cleto Escobedo III aged 59
- Cleto Escobedo III, bandleader of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, passed away at 59, with Kimmel expressing profound heartbreak over the loss of his lifelong friend.
- Escobedo, who contributed significantly to the show’s musical identity since its inception in 2003, was known for his vibrant performances with his band, Cleto and the Cletones.
- Kimmel’s tribute highlighted their deep bond, recalling their childhood adventures and the unique chemistry that made their collaboration special.
Jimmy Kimmel announces death of best friend and band leader Cleto Escobedo III aged 59
Jimmy Kimmel has broken the news of the death of his best friend and band leader (Picture: Richard Cartwright / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
Cleto Escobedo III, the longtime bandleader of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and a fixture of late-night television for over two decades, has died at 59.
The news was announced by host Jimmy Kimmel, who shared a deeply personal tribute to his best friend on Instagram, saying that Escobedo and he have been inseparable since they were nine years old.
‘Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III,’ Kimmel wrote.
‘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.’
For viewers of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Escobedo and his saxophone helped define the show’s energy from its debut in 2003.
His band, Cleto and the Cletones, provided a mix of funk, jazz, and soul that became the heartbeat of Kimmel’s late-night format.
His father, Cleto Escobedo Sr., also performed alongside him on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The sad news follows the sudden postponement of Thursday’s episode of the late-night talk show due to a ‘personal matter’ involving the host, according to Entertainment Weekly.
In 2015, Kimmel discussed his decision to hire his friend with ABC7.
He said that Escobedo was a ‘child prodigy’ who ‘toured with Earth, Wind and Fire, Paula Abdul, ‘ and ‘had his own record deal’ before joining Kimmel’s show.
Kimmel described himself as ‘heartbroken’ about his friend’s death.
Escobedo and Kimmel have been best friends since they were young children
‘I was nervous, because I thought they’d say, “We don’t want your friend to be the band leader,”‘ he continued. ‘So I took the president of ABC to see him play with his band, and he loved it.’
Kimmel went on to say: ‘Of course I wanted great musicians, but I wanted somebody I had chemistry with. And there’s nobody in my life I have better chemistry with than him.’
In a 2016 Jimmy Kimmel Live! segment celebrating Cleto Escobedo III’s 50th birthday, Kimmel offered viewers a glimpse into the pair’s decades-long friendship.
Escobedo played in the band with his father, Cleto Escobedo Sr.
He reminisced about their earliest adventures growing up together, including a makeshift sidecar bike they’d dubbed ‘the side hack,’ which Escobedo gleefully steered into bushes and garbage cans, much to Kimmel’s mock dismay.
Kimmel recalled afternoons when Cleto would lounge on the lawn with a BB gun, playfully firing at him, or how the pair once ‘borrowed’ his father’s shotgun to shoot kites out of the sky.
One story, in particular, captured Escobedo’s mischievous streak: as teenagers, he would quietly slip out of his pants in the backseat of Kimmel’s mother’s car and moon unsuspecting pedestrians, reducing everyone in the vehicle to tears of laughter.
His cause of death is not yet known.
