Cleto Escobedo III, the bandleader for ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, has died.
Escobedo died early Tuesday, Kimmel wrote in an Instagram post. He was 59.
“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.”
Escobedo and his band, Cleto and the Cletones, have been part of Jimmy Kimmel Live! since its debut in 2003. He and the host went back much further than that, however: They were neighbors growing up in Las Vegas, and Kimmel wrote that he and Escobedo 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.”
Escobedo was born Aug. 23, 1966, in Las Vegas. His father, Cleto Escobedo Jr., is also a musician (and a member of the Cletones) who played saxophone for Los Blues, a 1960s rock/soul band. After graduating high school and briefly attending the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Escobedo joined the band Santa Fe, then got a big break as part of Paula Abdul’s touring band.
He formed the Cletones in 1995 with guitarist Toshi Yanagi, bassist Jimmy Earl, keyboard player Jeff Babko and drummer Jonathan Dresel. His father joined the band when they became part of Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
When Escobedo turned 50 in 2016, Kimmel looked back on their friendship, which started when Kimmel and his family moved to Las Vegas in 1977. “We began a lifetime of friendship that was highlighted by the kind of torture that only an older brother can inflict on you without being arrested,” Kimmel joked, recalling times that Escobedo would put Kimmel in the sidecar of his bike and “drive me directly into a garbage can” along with other antics.
In addition to Abdul, Escobedo toured with Earth, Wind and Fire’s Philip Bailey and Marc Anthony and played a number of TV commercials.
Kimmel will address his friend and bandleader’s passing on Tuesday’s show.
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