By Josh Boswell, Daily Mail | Heartbroken Jimmy Kimmel has announced the death of his childhood friend and Jimmy Kimmel Live! bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III. Writing on Instagram, Kimmel shared: ‘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. Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was nine years old,’ the late night host said in a statement.
‘The fact that we got to work together every day is a dream neither of us could ever have imagined would come true,’ Kimmel added.
‘Cherish your friends and please keep Cleto’s wife, children and parents in your prayers.’
Escobeda’s death Tuesday aged, 59, explains the reason why Kimmel abruptly canceled his show last Thursday.
Kimmel was reportedly seen at a hospital after missing that show, exchanging emotional hugs outside a Los Angeles hospital, with his long-time friend’s father Cleto Escobedo Jr., a musician in his house band Cleto and the Cletones, outside a hospital in Los Angeles on November 6.
Saxophonist Cleto Jr., 82, his wife Sylvia, 80, and Kimmel’s wife Molly McNearney, 47 met each other in the hospital parking lot.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/jimmy-kimmel-bandleader-cleto-escobar-iii-dies-days-after-late-night-host-abruptly-canceled-show/
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Jimmy Kimmel Fights Back Tears to Give ‘Hardest’ Monologue of His Career: ‘We’re Going to Take the Next Couple of Nights Off’ | Video
By Alyssa Ray, The Wrap
Jimmy Kimmel paid tribute to his longtime friend and bandleader Cleto Escobedo III during Tuesday night’s monologue.
The comedian struggled to fight back tears as he opened “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” sharing with his audience that he lost someone very dear to him.
“We’ve been on the air for almost 23 years and I’ve had to do some hard monologues along the way,” Kimmel started off. “But this one’s the hardest because late last night, early this morning, we lost someone very special who was much too young to go. And I’d like to tell you about him, if you don’t mind.”
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Go here to watch the video or to read about the monologue:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tv/articles/jimmy-kimmel-fights-back-tears-054120366.html
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From Wikipedia:
Jimmy Kimmel’s Band Leader Cleto Escobedo III Dies, Aged 59
Cleto Valentine Escobedo III (August 23, 1966 – November 11, 2025) was an American musician and bandleader. He led Cleto and the Cletones, the house band for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, appearing on the show from its inception in 2003 until his death in 2025. Escobedo began his career touring with Paula Abdul and Marc Anthony before joining the late-night show.
Escobedo was born on August 23, 1966, in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Cleto Escobedo Jr. and Sylvia Escobedo. His father, a musician who also worked as a valet for entertainers such as Sammy Davis Jr. and Tom Jones, set aside his career to raise his son but later appeared in his son’s band on Jimmy Kimmel Live! At his mother’s suggestion, Escobedo learned to play the saxophone under his father’s instruction. After high school, he attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he performed with several jazz bands. He initially pursued a degree in political science but took a semester off to become a full-time musician.
Escobedo had known Jimmy Kimmel since he was nine years old; they first met in 1977, when Kimmel’s family moved to Las Vegas, across the street from Escobedo. They both attended Guinn Junior High School, where their friendship developed. As children, the pair often stayed up late watching Late Night with David Letterman together.
Before joining Jimmy Kimmel on his late-night show, Escobedo performed across Las Vegas. In 1990, he toured with Paula Abdul in support of her album Forever Your Girl and later performed with artists including Marc Anthony. In 2003, While on tour with Anthony, Escobedo was invited to join Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, having previously worked with him on the Comedy Central series The Man Show. The request came at an opportune time, as Escobedo had been considering leaving music before receiving the offer.
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Escobedo lived in Studio City with his wife Lori and their two children.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleto_Escobedo_III
OTHER NOTABLE MUSICIANS’ DEATHS
Posting for my Veteran/singer/songwriter/musician friend Troy Hoss: Heavy on my heart so here goes: This is a very real problem … 22 Veterans a day surrender to their demons. #SuicideAwareness | Call Veteran’s Hotline: 988 #1 or 844-647-1354
From Care2 via Jock Bartley on Facebook: Trump shut down our LGBTQ+ suicide and mental health hotline, but CANADA opened a US toll-free number to theirs… so our citizens can get help anytime, at no cost: 1-877-330-6366
Kindness & empathy have no borders.
Warning Signs of Suicide – National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or if you want to discuss, call the old numbers at 800-273-TALK or 800-273-8255 for English and 888-628-9454 for Spanish. Learn the signs of someone who may be contemplating suicide.
If you want to know more about any of the musicians we lost, please check them out at http://www.wikipedia.com
November 2025
12: Muazzez Abacı, 78, Turkish singer, multiple organ failure; Juraj Lexmann, 84, Slovak musicologist and composer; Bereket Mengisteab, 89, Eritrean musician; Horia Moculescu, 88, Romanian pianist and composer.
11: Guido Di Leone, 61, Italian guitarist, heart attack; Cleto Escobedo III, 59, American musician (Cleto and the Cletones) and bandleader (Jimmy Kimmel Live!); Carmen Moreno, 99, Polish singer.
10: Richard Darbyshire, 65, English singer (Living in a Box) and songwriter (“Room in Your Heart”); Thomas Daniel Schlee, 68, Austrian composer, arts administrator and organist; Robert Skrolsvik, 65, Norwegian singer (Bjelleklang), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
9: Stefka Evstatieva, 78, Bulgarian operatic soprano; Göran Ringbom, 81, Swedish musician.
8: Giuseppe Vessicchio, 69, Italian conductor and composer, pneumonia.
7: Norma Helena Gadea, 69, Nicaraguan singer.
6: Chris Bradley, British bass guitarist (Savage); Sulakshana Pandit, 71, Indian actress (Sankalp, Sankoch, Waqt Ki Deewar) and playback singer, cardiac arrest; Pono, 49, Polish rapper (Zipera); Steve Whitaker, 62, American drummer (Barren Cross), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
5: Djamchid Chemirani, 83, Iranian musician; Věra Křesadlová, 81, Czech artist, actress and singer; Gilson Lavis, 74, English drummer (Squeeze, Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra).
4: Robert Taylor, 74, New Zealand guitarist (Dragon) and songwriter (“This Time”, “Magic”).