“Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III,” Kimmel wrote on Instagram. “To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement. 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.”
Born in Las Vegas on August 23, 1966, Escobedo was the son of Celto Escobedo Jr., a Vegas musician who later worked as a backstage butler to Sammy Davis, Jr at the Caesar’s Palace Casino. Escobedo Jr. quit playing sax for the job, but at his wife Sylvia’s behest, he taught his son to play, starting in the sixth grade. Later, through his father’s connections at the casino, Escobedo III got his start in the music industry as a touring saxophonist for Paula Abdul and, later, Marc Anthony. He formed what would become the Jimmy Kimmel house band, Cleto and the Cletones, in 1995.
Escobedo met Kimmel in middle school when Kimmel’s family moved across the street from him. The pair bonded over a shared love of David Letterman and used to stay up late watching the show as children. “In 1976 we moved on the same block,” he said in a 2022 interview. “His family moved out from Brooklyn, and we moved from just across town. 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.” Kimmel had already worked with Escobedo on The Man Show, so in 2003, when the host started putting together the show at ABC, he called his old friend. After co-writing the show’s theme song, Escobedo led the band on Jimmy Kimmel Live! ever since.
Escobedo is survived by his wife, Lori, and his two children.
