FILE -- Cleto Escobedo from "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" arrives at the Imagen Awards on Friday, Aug. 12, 2011, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Vince Bucci)
Los Angeles
Jimmy Kimmel announced the death of a longtime friend who was also his bandleader on his late-night show.
Kimmel shared on Tuesday that Cleto Escobedo III, the leader of Cleto and the Cletones, the house band on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” has died.
“Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III,” Kimmel wrote. “To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement.”
According to People, Escobedo was 59 years old and led Cleto and the Cletones’ live music for the Kimmel show since it first premiered in 2003.
“Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was 9 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 late-night host continued. “Cherish your friends and please keep Cleto’s wife, children and parents in your prayers.”
Just a couple of months ago, Kimmel made an emotional return to his late-night show after ABC pulled the host off air following his comments related to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
There was no immediate word given on Escobedo’s cause of death.