Jimmy Kimmel broke down in tears during an emotional tribute to his longtime friend and bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III.
Kimmel, 57, opened the Tuesday, November 11, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! by remembering Escobedo, who died early Tuesday morning at age 59, and was overcome with emotion as he tried to get through his monologue.
The late-night talk show host said he’s “had to do some hard monologues” over the course of the last 23 years, “but this one’s the hardest, because late last night, early this morning, we lost someone very special who was much too young to go.”
Kimmel then broke down his history with Escobedo, whom he first met when he was 9 years old upon moving from Brooklyn, New York, to Las Vegas.
“There was a boy who lived on my block. … He was a little bit older than me. He was a year older than me. His name was Cleto,” Kimmel said as he fought back tears.
“Eventually we met. We became friends — and not just regular friends. We became 24/7 ‘Mom-please-let-me-sleep-over-please’ kind of friends. One summer I slept over at the Escobedo house 33 nights in a row, for real,” he said. “My mother used to make me get down on my knees and beg to sleep at his house in front of him, and I would gladly do it, ‘cause we were never bored.”
Kimmel described his childhood bond with Escobedo, including boxing, prank-calling neighbors and trying to sneakily watch Betamax videos and HBO to “see naked people,” he quipped.
As they grew up, Kimmel said, Escobedo, like his father — Cleto Escobedo Sr. — became a musician and eventually toured with Paula Abdul, signed a record deal with the former American Idol judge and released an album.
But it was when Kimmel landed his own ABC talk show in September 2002 that the lifelong friends became work colleagues. Escobedo has been the bandleader of Kimmel’s house band, Cleto and the Cletones, since Jimmy Kimmel Live! premiered in January 2003.
“I wanted Cleto to lead my band. … The idea that anyone other than him would lead the band was terrifying. It had to be him,” the comedian said. “I was so scared they would say no and I would have to have another band. I had to work up the nerve to bring it up. Because I knew [saying], ‘My best friend from growing up plays the saxophone, he could lead the band,’ wasn’t a great pitch.”
“Not only did I want Cleto to lead the band, I wanted his dad to be in the band,” Kimmel continued, noting that Cleto and his father auditioned for an ABC executive and the rest is history. “We’ve been working together every day for almost 23 years now,” Kimmel said.
“I’ve always said the single best thing about doing this show was getting the opportunity to allow Cleto Sr. to pick up where he left off in 1966 and become a musician again, with his son,” Kimmel said while tearing up. “Cleto Sr. and his mom, Sylvia, have been like my second parents since I was in the 4th grade. I’ve known them 47 years and these people have never once yelled at me. Not one time. They are the best people.”
Kimmel paid tribute to Escobedo’s widow, Lori, and their two children, adding that everyone at the show is “devastated” by the news of his death.
“It’s just not fair,” he said. “He was the nicest, most humble, kind and always funny person,” he added.
Kimmel thanked the hospital staff who took care of Escobedo in the final months of his life due to an unspecified illness, and extended his well-wishes to his family.
He concluded, “Cherish your friends. We’re not here forever.”
Kimmel noted that after Tuesday’s program, he would be taking a “couple of nights off” from Jimmy Kimmel Live! as the cast and crew mourn the show’s bandleader.
Kimmel announced Escobedo’s death in an Instagram post earlier on Tuesday. “Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III,” he 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. Cherish your friends and please keep Cleto’s wife, children and parents in your prayers.”
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