Jimmy Kimmel Last night I took time to remember Cleto Escobedo III, my childhood friend and longtime bandleader Jimmy Kimmel Live. After the announcement of the news that Escobedo died On Tuesday afternoon, Kimmel used his monologue to pay tribute to his 59-year-old pal.
“We've been on the air for almost 23 years, and I've had to give some tough monologues along the way,” Kimmel told the studio audience, breaking down in tears. “But this one is the hardest because late last night and early this morning we lost someone very special who was too young to leave. And I would like to tell you about him.”
The evening's host took the opportunity to share his memories of Escobedo. He told how he moved with his family to one of the Las Vegas areas in 1979. “That’s where I grew up, on Meadow Lark Lane,” he recalled. “And there was a boy on my block. He lived across the street, two houses away. He was a little older than me. He was a year older than me. His name was Cleto, but we all called him Junior.”
Kimmel recalled riding his bike down the street one day wearing his mother's boxing gloves and sunglasses when Escobedo spotted him. “Years later, when he first saw me, he told me he thought I was special,” Kimmel said. “I don't mean 'special' like 'This guy is special.' I mean special competitions like the Special Olympics. He saw me, a poor mentally challenged child, and we eventually met. We became friends. And not just ordinary friends. “We became 24/7, ‘Mom, please sleep me over, please,’ like friends.”
He added that in one summer he slept at Escobedo's house 33 nights in a row. “We were never bored,” Kimmel noted. “We were always up to something.” Kimmel shared memories from his childhood, including the time Escobedo left a condom wrapper next to Kimmel's parents' bed.
“We had so many adventures,” Kimmel continued. “We laughed so hard. We had our own language that almost no one understood. We didn't have to say anything. We sat here at rehearsals every day. We didn't have to look at each other. I knew he was thinking about looking at me, and I was thinking about looking at him. We look at each other like that, that's all.”
He added: “We loved the same things: baseball, fishing, boxing, [Muhammad] Ali, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Woody Allen, Michael McDonald, Huey Lewis, Stevie Wonder and our favorite was David Letterman. We never missed David Letterman. And the first time I was on [Late Show with David Letterman] This was in 1999. It was a really big event for both of us. That day before the performance I was so nervous. I was walking around New York, just walking quickly, trying to burn off some nervous energy, and I called him, just so we could marvel together that this was happening. And it was amazing.”
Kimmel also spoke about Escobedo's musical talent, explaining that he was a “phenomenal” saxophonist from a young age. “He was a prodigy who got a standing ovation in high school, if you can imagine that,” Kimmel said. Paula Abdul later hired Escobedo to sing and play saxophone on her tour and eventually recorded an album. “I went to Tower Records and bought it there,” Kimmel said.
When ABC offered Kimmel his own late-night show, Kimmel immediately knew he wanted Escobedo to be a part of it.
“One day in September 2002, I got a talk show out of nowhere,” Kimmel recalls. “I had a meeting with an ABC executive named Lloyd Brown and he hired me to host this show. And when you do a show like this, you need a few things. You need a table, you need an announcer, you need Guillermo and you need a band. And of course, I wanted Cleto to lead my band. We grew up watching Dave and Paul, and the thought of anyone other than him leading the band was terrifying. It had to be him. I was so afraid that they They'll refuse, and I'll have to start another group. And not only did I want Cleto to lead the group, but I also wanted his father to be in the group.”
Kimmel hosted an evening where Escobedo and his father, Cleto Escobedo II, performed at a Los Angeles club. “Cleto and his dad did a special song. They played 'Pick Up the Pieces' by the Average White Band, which is two saxophones. And Lloyd saw it. He saw father and son together. He said, 'I love it.' And he just up and left. And we've been working together every day for almost 23 years.”
He added: “I've often said that the best thing about this show is the opportunity to allow Cleto Sr. to pick up where he left off in 1966 and become a musician again with his son.”
While describing the love in the Escobedo family, Kimmel began to cry again. He explained how much “everyone loves Cleto,” admitting that “everyone here on the show, we're devastated by this.”
“It’s just not fair,” Kimmel said, crying. “He was the sweetest, most humble, kindest and always cheerful person.” He added of their shared success: “He loved me. He loved seeing it all happen. He loved being a part of it. He never took it for granted… He was just a great big brother. No baggage, just love. There's no one in my life I'm more comfortable with.”
At the end of the monologue, Kimmel confirmed that Jimmy Kimmel Live Following his death, Escobedo will take the rest of the week off. “Even though I'm heartbroken over his loss, I'm going to take another lesson from him and recognize how lucky I am to have him literally by my side for so many years,” Kimmel concluded. “Take care of your friends. We're not here forever.”
