Jimmy Kimmel Honors Friend Cleto Escobedo After Band Leader’s Death

Jimmy Kimmel burst into tears as he paid tribute to his late friend and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” group leader Cleto Escobedo III during Tuesday night's show, just hours after his shocking death was announced.

Check out the heartfelt tribute from the late-night TV host remembered Kleto not only as an impressive musician who has been a staple of the show for over two decades, but also as one of his closest friends.

Jimmy remembered meeting Cleto and automatically connecting with him after his parents moved their family from Brooklyn, New York to Las Vegas, Nevada when he was a child. He said they were like brothers, practically inseparable, and even claimed that he once slept over at Cleto's house for “33 nights in a row.”

Cleto has been the leader of Cleto and the Cletones for nearly 23 years, although he has been quietly absent from the show in recent months due to illness. His father Cleto Escobedo IIwas also in the band, playing tenor and alto saxophone.

Jimmy said Cleto's father influenced him to become a musician after leaving his professional career to raise his family.

He was delighted… “I have 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.”

The late musician once said he picked up the instrument because of his father and praised him for the sacrifices he made as a father, noting in the 2021 featurette… “I play the saxophone because he played the saxophone when I was a kid… When I started going to school, he quit playing to be home with me and got a job as a waiter at Caesar's Palace and worked there for 30 years.”

Mother Cleto, Silviawas in the audience during a 20-minute monologue.

Jimmy announced the death of his talented friend on Instagram on Tuesday. Although the show went on, he informed the audience that the Wednesday and Thursday broadcasts would be cancelled.

It is unclear how Cleto died.

He was 59.