Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is mourning an unthinkable loss.
His lifelong best friend and Jimmy Kimmel Live! bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III, has died at the age of 59.
Kimmel shared the heartbreaking news on Instagram Tuesday, November 11, writing:
“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.”
A friendship that lasted a lifetime
Cleto wasn’t just part of the show, he was part of Kimmel’s life story. The two met as kids growing up in Las Vegas, bonding over music, mischief, and comedy.
In a past birthday tribute on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host recalled their wild childhood memories:
“Cleto had a bicycle with a sidecar attached to it. We called it the side hack. I would get in the sidecar and then Cleto would drive me directly into garbage cans and bushes,” Kimmel joked.
The laughter didn’t stop there. The pair were inseparable teens who loved to prank people, sometimes a little too much.
“Cleto would quietly, in the back, slip out of his pants and moon people from the back of our car,” Kimmel once said with a laugh.
From childhood dreams to late-night legends
When Jimmy Kimmel Live! premiered in 2003, there was no question who would lead the band. It had to be Cleto.
“I’ll tell you one thing,” Kimmel told ABC7. “It had to have my bandleader, Cleto.”
But the comedian worried the network might not agree.
“I was nervous, because I thought they’d say, ‘We don’t want your friend to be the bandleader,’” Kimmel recalled. “So I took the president of ABC to see him play with his band, and he loved it.”
The decision paid off. For more than two decades, Cleto and his band, Cleto and the Cletones, filled the studio with life, laughter, and unforgettable music.
Even better, Cleto shared the stage with his father, Cleto Escobedo Jr., who played saxophone in the band.
“I’m in seventh heaven every night,” Cleto Sr. once said. “I’m playing music with my son on a show with my other son. There’s not another son and dad on late-night TV.”
Destined for music
Born August 23, 1966, in Las Vegas, Cleto Escobedo III was destined for music.
“There was music everywhere,” he said in an interview last year.
“I distinctly remember my dad was playing in Hawaii. I was 5 years old and watching his band and him play, and I used to get teared up watching my dad play. I was so excited by the music of it all.”
By the time he was in college, Cleto was already performing on the Las Vegas Strip — and his talent soon took him worldwide.
He toured with Paula Abdul, Earth, Wind & Fire, Luis Miguel, and Marc Anthony, before getting the call from his childhood best friend, Jimmy Kimmel.
“When ABC offered me my show, I prayed that they’d let me hire Cleto,” Kimmel told Variety. “And to my amazement, they agreed, sight unseen.”
Inseparable since they were 9
Kimmel’s tribute on Instagram moved fans and friends alike, as he remembered not just a bandleader, but a brother in every sense of the word.
“Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was 9 years old,” Kimmel wrote. “The fact that we got to work together every day is a dream neither of us could ever have imagined would come true.”
For over 20 years, the two brought laughter and love to millions of viewers, a friendship that started with childhood pranks and ended with a legacy of music, humor, and loyalty.
Cleto is survived by his parents, wife Lori, and children Cruz and Jesse, and by the millions of fans who will never forget his warmth and talent.
