Kimmel Mourns Death of Bandleader

"To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement," Jimmy Kimmel said in an Instagram post Tuesday. He said Cleto Escobedo III, the saxophonist and bandleader who led "Cleto and the Cletones" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, died that morning at age 59, People reports. Escobedo had been a fixture on the late-night show since its 2003 debut, with his father, Cleto Escobedo Jr., also playing saxophone in the band.

• "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," Kimmel wrote. "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."

• "We just met one day on the street, and there were a few kids on the street, and him and I just became really close friends, and we kind of had the same sense of humor. We just became pals, and we've been pals ever since," Escobedo said of Kimmel in a 2022 interview, per the AP.
• In a 2015 interview with ABC7, Kimmel described Escobedo as a child prodigy who would get standing ovations at school performances and who toured with major acts like Earth, Wind & Fire and Paula Abdul before joining the show. Kimmel said it was essential for him to have Escobedo as his bandleader when the show launched. "Of course I wanted great musicians, but I wanted somebody I had chemistry with," he said. "And there's nobody in my life I have better chemistry with than him."