Jimmy Kimmel’s longtime friend and bandleader dies at 59

Born August 23, 1966, in Las Vegas, Cleto Escobedo III was destined for music.

“There was music everywhere,” he said in an interview last year.

“I distinctly remember my dad was playing in Hawaii. I was 5 years old and watching his band and him play, and I used to get teared up watching my dad play. I was so excited by the music of it all.”

By the time he was in college, Cleto was already performing on the Las Vegas Strip — and his talent soon took him worldwide.

He toured with Paula Abdul, Earth, Wind & Fire, Luis Miguel, and Marc Anthony, before getting the call from his childhood best friend, Jimmy Kimmel.

“When ABC offered me my show, I prayed that they’d let me hire Cleto,” Kimmel told Variety. “And to my amazement, they agreed, sight unseen.”

Inseparable since they were 9

Kimmel’s tribute on Instagram moved fans and friends alike, as he remembered not just a bandleader, but a brother in every sense of the word.

“Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was 9 years old,” Kimmel wrote. “The fact that we got to work together every day is a dream neither of us could ever have imagined would come true.”

For over 20 years, the two brought laughter and love to millions of viewers, a friendship that started with childhood pranks and ended with a legacy oContinue reading…