Late-night television lost a pillar of its musical backbone on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, when Cleto Escobedo III, longtime bandleader of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and childhood friend of its host Jimmy Kimmel, passed away at the age of 59. His death was announced by Kimmel in an emotional Instagram post and publicly mourned in the show's opening monologue the same evening.
Born on August 23, 1966, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Escobedo grew up in a musical family. His father, Cleto Escobedo Jr., was a saxophonist who later joined his son on-screen. According to The Washington Post, the elder Escobedo once worked as a valet and part-time musician, giving up a touring career to raise his family, an investment that would pay off in his son's early development.
Escobedo and Kimmel met when Kimmel's family moved across the street in Las Vegas in 1977. The two bonded instantly, sharing a youthful sense of mischief and a love of television, including late-night programming they watched together after school.
From his teenage years, Escobedo distinguished himself as a gifted saxophonist, playing alto, tenor, and soprano saxophone, and developed a reputation as a prodigy among his school peers.
Career Rise and Key Collaborations
Before his television breakthrough, Escobedo toured and recorded with major artists, including Luis Miguel, Sheila E., Paula Abdul, and Marc Anthony. He also worked with Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire and was firmly rooted in jazz and rhythm-and-blues styles. The Latin music community has been remembering his legacy.
"Cleto was pure light and soul, both on and off stage. Sending so much love to his family and everyone who loved him," wrote Abdul on Instagram.
The Late-Night Role and Personal Commitment
In 1995, Escobedo founded his own ensemble, Cleto and the Cletones, which would evolve into the house band for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" when the show premiered in 2003. When Kimmel was assembling his late-night show, he insisted on Escobedo as bandleader not primarily for fame, but because of their chemistry. "Of course I wanted great musicians, but I wanted somebody I had chemistry with. And there's nobody in my life I have better chemistry with than him," Kimmel later said.
For more than two decades, Cleto and the Cletones provided the live musical heartbeat to "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Escobedo's father also played in the band, creating a rare father-son continuity in a nightly television environment. Despite the demanding nature of TV production, Escobedo frequently emphasized how the role enabled him to stay present with his family. "Touring ... is not really conducive for family life. I've learned over the years ... leaving your kids for so long," he said in an oral-history interview.
Their camaraderie extended beyond stage presence. Kimmel recounted childhood pranks, one involving a customized bicycle side-car that sent him careening into garbage cans, underscoring how their lifelong connection grounded their professional collaboration.
Final Hours and the On-Air Tribute
Escobedo's cause of death was "complications from a liver transplant". The news prompted immediate and heartfelt responses from the show. Kimmel opened the November 11 episode with tears and shared: "We've been on the air for almost 23 years ... this one's the hardest because late last night, early this morning, we lost someone very special who was much too young."
He further announced that the November 12 and 13 episodes would be canceled to allow staff to grieve; however, the November 11 show proceeded because Escobedo would not have wanted a guest appearance, for actor Eddie Murphy, to go unattended.
Kimmel's Instagram post described Escobedo as "a great friend, father, son, musician and man" and noted that they had been inseparable since age nine. He asked audiences to keep Escobedo's wife Lori, their children, and his parents in their thoughts.
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 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.
Legacy and Impact
Cleto Escobedo III leaves a legacy that merges musical artistry and genuine friendship. His leadership of the house band turned nightly television into a space where music mattered,live, dynamic, and part of the show's DNA.
His personal story, from Las Vegas side streets to the nightly network stage, offers a rare narrative of staying close to roots while staying visible in a high-stakes entertainment world. The father-son band partnership further deepened that sense of family-flavored stagecraft.
Though the cause of his death has not been publicly disclosed, and while obituary sources reference "an awful few months" of illness, the broadcast world is already acknowledging the gap his departure leaves.
As the television community pauses, the tribute is clear: this was a man whose saxophone voice and off-screen warmth made "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" more than a late-night show—it made it a gathering of friends and sound.
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