Cleto Escobedo III, the band leader on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and a lifelong friend of the late-night host, died Tuesday morning. He was 59.
Escobedo’s death was announced by Kimmel on social media. His cause and location of death were not revealed.
“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.”
The Nov. 6 episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was canceled on short notice last week. At the time, reports said Kimmel was attending to a personal matter. That matter was visiting Escobedo in the hospital, who had been absent from the show for weeks, according to TMZ.
Escobedo has led Kimmel’s band, Cleto and the Cletones, since the ABC host got the late-night gig in 2003. Kimmel personally vouched for his friend to earn the job when negotiating with executives.
“I was nervous, because I thought they’d say, ‘We don’t want your friend to be the band leader,’” Kimmel told WABC in 2015. “So I took the president of ABC to see him play with his band, and he loved it.”
