Cleto Escobedo III, the bandleader for the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in-house band Cleto and the Cletones, has died. He was 59.
Kimmel shared the news about his childhood friend on social media on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
"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."
"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," he added. "Cherish your friends and please keep Cleto’s wife, children and parents in your prayers."
A cause of death was not immediately available.
Beginning in the late '70s, Kimmel and Escobedo grew up together as neighbors in Las Vegas. Escobedo went on to form the band Cleto and the Cletones, playing the saxophone mostly, with Toshi Yanagi, Jimmy Earl, Jonathan Dresel and Jeff Babko.
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