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\nCleto Escobedo III, the leader of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! house band Cleto and the Cletones, died on Tuesday, Nov. 11Cleto and the Cletones have provided the live music for\u00a0Jimmy Kimmel Live!\u00a0since the show first premiered in 2003Escobedo and Kimmel were lifelong friends<\/p>\n
Jimmy Kimmel<\/a> cried at the opening of Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/a> on Tuesday, Nov. 11, during a tribute to his late friend, Cleto Escobedo III<\/a>, the leader of the show’s house band, Cleto and the Cletones.\n<\/p>\n The tribute came after Kimmel, 57, announced the death of the “great friend, father, son, musician and man” at age 59 in an\u00a0Instagram<\/a> post earlier that same day.\n<\/p>\n Kimmel began the episode in tears as he came out onstage.\n<\/p>\n “We’ve been on the air for almost 23 years and I’ve had to do some hard monologues along the way, but this one’s the hardest because late last night, early this morning, we lost someone very special who was much too young,” Kimmel said before sharing a childhood story about Escobedo.\n<\/p>\n “Everyone loves Cleto… everyone here at the show,” Kimmel later said. “We are devastated by this. It’s not… It’s just not fair.”<\/p>\n The comedian also announced that the Wednesday, Nov. 12, and Thursday, Nov. 13 episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live! were canceled. “We’re going to take the next couple of nights off,” he said, later adding that he and his staff went through with the Nov. 11 episode because Cleto wouldn’t want them to miss interviewing guest Eddie Murphy<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n Escobado’s father, Cleto Escobado Sr., is also a member of the Cletones, playing the tenor and alto saxophone. Cleto Sr. also performed in the band during Tuesday night’s episode. Escobedo’s mother was also in the audience.\n<\/p>\n The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!<\/a>\n<\/p>\n Jimmy Kimmel and Cleto Escodedo Jr.<\/p>\n Richard Cartwright \/ Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty<\/p>\n Escobedo’s death comes days after it was announced that the Nov. 6 edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live!\u00a0 would be postponed due to a “personal matter” involving the host.\n<\/p>\n “To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement,” said Kimmel while announcing the news on Instagram. “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\u2019s wife, children and parents in your prayers.”\n<\/p>\n Although the two grew up together, their friendship would only grow stronger when Jimmy Kimmel Live!\u00a0premiered in 2003, with Escobedo coming on as the leader of Cleto and the Cletones.\n<\/p>\n Cleto Esobedo Jr.<\/p>\n Richard Cartwright \/ Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty<\/p>\n The musician reflected on when Kimmel first approached him about joining the show during an ABC\u00a0Hispanic Latinx Heritage Month\u00a0featurette<\/a> in 2021.\n<\/p>\n “Jimmy called and said, ‘Hey man, I think I’m going to have this show, do you want to be my band leader?’ Of course, I was like, ‘Yes,’ ” said Escobedo at the time. “It’s been the best gig ever.”\n<\/p>\n “I play sax because he played sax when I was a kid \u2014 my dad sacrificed a lot for me,” recalled Escobedo. “He was a musician for many years, he was on the road a lot before I was born. And then when I started going to school, he quit playing just so he could be home with me and got a job as a busboy at Caesar’s Palace and worked there for 30 years.”\n<\/p>\n Cleto Escobedo Jr. and Jimmy Kimmel.<\/p>\n Todd Wawrychuk \/ Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty<\/p>\n In a 2015 interview with ABC7<\/a>, Kimmel said that Escobedo had “toured with\u00a0Earth, Wind and Fire<\/a>,\u00a0Paula Abdul<\/a>,” and “had his own record deal” before joining his show.\n<\/p>\n While Kimmel called him a “child prodigy,” he ultimately wanted him to join\u00a0Jimmy Kimmel Live! for reasons outside of his talent.\n<\/p>\n