Cleto wasn’t just part of the show, he was part of Kimmel’s life story. The two met as kids growing up in Las Vegas, bonding over music, mischief, and comedy.
In a past birthday tribute on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host recalled their wild childhood memories:
The laughter didn’t stop there. The pair were inseparable teens who loved to prank people, sometimes a little too much.
“Cleto would quietly, in the back, slip out of his pants and moon people from the back of our car,” Kimmel once said with a laugh.
From childhood dreams to late-night legends
When Jimmy Kimmel Live! premiered in 2003, there was no question who would lead the band. It had to be Cleto.
“I’ll tell you one thing,” Kimmel told ABC7. “It had to have my bandleader, Cleto.”
But the comedian worried the network might not agree.
“I was nervous, because I thought they’d say, ‘We don’t want your friend to be the bandleader,’” Kimmel recalled. “So I took the president of ABC to see him play with his band, and he loved it.”
The decision paid off. For more than two decades, Cleto and his band, Cleto and the Cletones, filled the studio with life, laughter, and unforgettable music.
Even better, Cleto shared the stage with his father, Cleto Escobedo Jr., who played saxophone in the band.
“I’m in seventh heaven every night,” Cleto Sr. once said. “I’m playing music with my son on a show with my other son. There’s not another son and dad on late-night TV.”
