Popular late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel condoled the loss of his childhood friend and bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III. Taking to Instagram, Kimmel shared a heartfelt message for him and recalled the pleasant memories they shared. He wrote, “To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement,” as he shared how they met and the friendship took root.
Leader of ‘Cleto and the Cletones,’ he was the leader of the house band on the show ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ which faced a brief ban, shortly after Charlie Kirk‘s death. While the cause of Cleto Escobedo III’s death remains undisclosed, he is survived by his wife and children.
Who was Cleto Escobedo III?
A childhood friend of Kimmel since they were 9, Escobedo was born in 1966. Calling Las Vegas home, the Escobedo’s father worked as a valet for celebrities like Sammy Davis Jr and Tom Jones. His father, also a musician, taught Cleto how to play his first saxophone.
Cleto Escobedo began performing live in Las Vegas with acts such as Paula Abdul and Marc Anthony. The 59-year-old met Kimmel “just one day on the street,” revealed Cleto in a 2022 interview. When Kimmel got his own ABC late-night talk show in 2003, he lobbied for Escobedo to lead the house band on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” “Of course I wanted great musicians, but I wanted somebody I had chemistry with,” Kimmel told WABC in 2015. “And there’s nobody in my life I have better chemistry with than him.” In 2016, on Escobedo’s 50th birthday, Kimmel dedicated a segment to his friend, recalling pranks with a BB gun or mooning people from the back of his mom’s car.
Family time for Cleto
Escobedo’s father, who plays the tenor and alto saxophone, is also part of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! house band. In January 2022, the father-son pair celebrated nearly twenty years of performing together on-screen. Recalling how it all began, Escobedo shared that when Kimmel asked who should be in the band, he suggested his regular group of musicians — people Kimmel already knew from attending his gigs long before fame. “Then Jimmy said, ‘What about your dad? Wouldn’t that be cool?’ and I thought, ‘That would be way cool,’” Escobedo recalled in a 2022 interview.
For Escobedo, the biggest perk of leading the band has been getting to spend time with his family. He admitted that while touring can be exciting, it’s not easy when you have children. “Touring is a young man’s game,” he said. “It’s tough to be away from your family for so long. You leave when your kids are babies, and when you return, they’re suddenly talking. It really makes you appreciate being able to stay close to home.”
Reacting to Cleto’s passing
Married to Lori, Cleto Escobedo III had two children and lived in Studio City, California. “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,” read Jimmy Kimmel’s tribute on social media.
Following the sudden news of Cletho’s passing, Kimmel’s show was abruptly cancelled, which was set to feature David Duchovny, Joe Keery and Madison Beer.
(with AP inputs)