Destined for music
Born August 23, 1966, in Las Vegas, Cleto Escobedo III was destined for music.
“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 of music, humor, and loyalty.
