Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Cleto Escobedo III, longtime band leader on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, died at the age of 59, Jimmy Kimmel shared via Instagram on November 11. “Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III,” Kimmel wrote alongside a photo of Escobedo. “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.”
Kimmel met Escobedo in 1977 when Kimmel moved to Las Vegas from Brooklyn as a child. Besides shenanigans involving bike crashes and pranks, the two played music together, and Kimmel called Escobedo a “child prodigy,” remembering how the “whole school” would come to see him perform. Eventually, when Kimmel was building his team for his talk show, he brought Escobedo on board in 2003; Escobedo had previously considered leaving the music industry before Kimmel called. “I think I was in Atlanta, and Jimmy called and said, ‘Hey man, I think I’m gonna have this show. Do you wanna be my bandleader?’ Of course, I was like ‘Yes.’’” Escobedo told Guillermo on On The Red Carpet. “It’s been the best gig ever.”
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