{"id":15554,"date":"2025-11-12T11:36:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.red94.net\/news\/cleto-escobedo-iii-23-year-jimmy-kimmel-live-bandleader-dies-at-59\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T11:37:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:37:14","slug":"85427-cleto-escobedo-iii-23-year-jimmy-kimmel-live-bandleader-dies-at-59","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.red94.net\/news\/85427-cleto-escobedo-iii-23-year-jimmy-kimmel-live-bandleader-dies-at-59\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleto Escobedo III, 23-year Jimmy Kimmel Live bandleader, dies at 59"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style='font-size: 1.1em;font-weight: 500;line-height: 1.6'><b>Cleto Escobedo III<\/b>, the legendary <b>saxophonist<\/b> who led <b>Cleto and the Cletones<\/b>, died on <b>Nov. 11, 2025<\/b>. He was <b>59<\/b> years old. The <b>23-year bandleader<\/b> of <b>Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/b> was <b>Jimmy Kimmel&#8217;s<\/b> childhood best friend and co-creator of the show&#8217;s iconic theme music.<\/p>\n<div style='background-color: #f8f9fa;border-left: 4px solid #e74c3c;padding: 15px;margin: 20px 0'>\n<p style='margin: 0;font-weight: 600'>\ud83d\udd25 Quick Facts:<\/p>\n<ul style='margin: 10px 0 0 0;padding-left: 20px'>\n<li>Born <b>Aug. 23, 1966<\/b> in <b>Las Vegas<\/b>; met Kimmel at age <b>9<\/b><\/li>\n<li>Led <b>Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/b> house band from show&#8217;s debut in <b>2003<\/b><\/li>\n<li>Recorded with <b>Paula Abdul<\/b>, <b>Marc Anthony<\/b>, and other world-class musicians<\/li>\n<li>Father <b>Cleto Escobedo Jr.<\/b> also performed on the show<\/li>\n<li>Survived by wife <b>Lori<\/b> and two children<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>The Friendship That Changed Late-Night Television<\/h2>\n<p><b>Cleto Escobedo III<\/b> and <b>Jimmy Kimmel<\/b> met on the street in <b>Las Vegas<\/b> as kids. They grew up across from each other. &#8220;We were inseparable,&#8221; <b>Kimmel<\/b> said in tribute on <b>Tuesday night<\/b>. Both boys loved <b>David Letterman<\/b> and shared a love of comedy.<\/p>\n<p>When <b>Kimmel<\/b> got his own <b>ABC<\/b> talk show in <b>2003<\/b>, he knew exactly who he wanted. &#8220;Of course I wanted great musicians. But I wanted somebody I had chemistry with,&#8221; <b>Kimmel<\/b> told <b>WABC<\/b> in <b>2015<\/b>. &#8220;There&#8217;s nobody in my life I have better chemistry with than <b>Cleto<\/b>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote style='border-left: 4px solid #3498db;padding-left: 20px;margin: 20px 0;font-style: italic;color: #555'>\n<p>&#8220;The fact that we got to work together every day is a dream neither of us could ever have imagined would come true.&#8221;<\/p>\n<footer style='margin-top: 10px;font-style: normal;font-size: 0.9em'>\u2014 <b>Jimmy Kimmel<\/b>, Instagram statement<\/footer>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>A Legendary Career Behind the Trumpet and Saxophone<\/h2>\n<p><b>Escobedo<\/b> became an elite session musician and bandleader before joining <b>Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/b> He toured with <b>Phillip Bailey<\/b> of <b>Earth, Wind &amp; Fire<\/b> and recorded with <b>Paula Abdul<\/b>, <b>Marc Anthony<\/b>, <b>Tom Scott<\/b>, and <b>Take Six<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Touring is fun, but it&#8217;s more of a young man&#8217;s game,&#8221; <b>Escobedo<\/b> reflected in a <b>2022<\/b> interview. &#8220;Touring isn&#8217;t really conducive for family life. I watched how hard it is leaving your kids for so long.&#8221; He appreciated that the <b>Kimmel Live!<\/b> job let him stay home.<\/p>\n<h2>23 Years Side by Side on the Iconic Late-Night Stage<\/h2>\n<table style='width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse;margin: 20px 0'>\n<tr style='border-bottom: 2px solid #ddd'>\n<td style='padding: 12px;font-weight: bold;background-color: #f5f5f5'>Category<\/td>\n<td style='padding: 12px;background-color: #f5f5f5'>Details<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style='border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd'>\n<td style='padding: 12px;font-weight: bold'>Show Start Date<\/td>\n<td style='padding: 12px'><b>Sept. 2003<\/b> with <b>Cleto and the Cletones<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style='border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd'>\n<td style='padding: 12px;font-weight: bold'>Years of Service<\/td>\n<td style='padding: 12px'><b>Nearly 23 years<\/b> of consecutive episodes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style='border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd'>\n<td style='padding: 12px;font-weight: bold'>Band Name<\/td>\n<td style='padding: 12px'><b>Cleto and the Cletones<\/b> (house band)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style='border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd'>\n<td style='padding: 12px;font-weight: bold'>Key Achievement<\/td>\n<td style='padding: 12px'>Co-created the show&#8217;s iconic theme music<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style='border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd'>\n<td style='padding: 12px;font-weight: bold'>Family Connection<\/td>\n<td style='padding: 12px'>Father performed alongside him <b>20 years<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p><b>Escobedo&#8217;s<\/b> father, <b>Cleto Escobedo Jr.<\/b>, also became a show regular, performing tenor and alto saxophones. In <b>January 2022<\/b>, father and son celebrated nearly <b>two decades<\/b> performing together on camera. They became one of TV&#8217;s most beloved musical families.<\/p>\n<h2>The Show Must Go On: What Happens Next?<\/h2>\n<p><b>Jimmy Kimmel<\/b> was visibly emotional during <b>Tuesday&#8217;s<\/b> opening monologue. &#8220;We&#8217;ve been on the air for almost <b>23 years<\/b> and I&#8217;ve had to do some hard monologues,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But this one&#8217;s the hardest.&#8221; The show announced it would take time off to grieve.<\/p>\n<ul style='margin: 15px 0 0 0;padding-left: 20px'>\n<li><b>Wednesday&#8217;s<\/b> show was immediately canceled<\/li>\n<li><b>Guests David Duchovny<\/b>, <b>Joe Keery<\/b>, and <b>Madison Beer<\/b> had been scheduled<\/li>\n<li><b>Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/b> will determine when to return to air<\/li>\n<li>The band&#8217;s future role remains to be announced<\/li>\n<li><b>ABC<\/b> hasn&#8217;t provided specific timeline for show&#8217;s return<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How a Childhood Friendship Became Late-Night Gold?<\/h2>\n<p><b>Escobedo<\/b> shared memories of their wild <b>Las Vegas<\/b> childhood. &#8220;Cleto had a bicycle with a sidecar. We called it the side hack,&#8221; <b>Kimmel<\/b> recalled in <b>2016<\/b>. &#8220;He would drive me directly into garbage cans and bushes.&#8221; They played pranks with BB guns, mooned people from cars.<\/p>\n<p>These weren&#8217;t just childhood memories\u2014they became the foundation for a <b>23-year<\/b> professional partnership. <b>Escobedo<\/b> grew from prankster to bandleader. <b>Kimmel<\/b> grew from kid on the street to late-night icon. Together, they built something that never felt forced or manufactured.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We were just kids who had great chemistry,&#8221; <b>Escobedo<\/b> explained simply. That chemistry never faded. It translated to <b>millions<\/b> of households watching <b>Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/b> every weeknight for <b>two decades<\/b>. What&#8217;s the mark of a true friendship? Getting to work together every single day for <b>23 years<\/b> and both of you smiling through it the whole time.<\/p>\n<h3>Sources<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><b>CBS News<\/b> &#8211; Cleto Escobedo III obituary and Kimmel tribute<\/li>\n<li><b>The New York Times<\/b> &#8211; Career retrospective and childhood friendship details<\/li>\n<li><b>Billboard<\/b> &#8211; Musical credentials and professional history<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":15553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"schema_org_data":"{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Cleto Escobedo III\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Jimmy Kimmel\",\"image\":\"https:\/\/image.tmdb.org\/t\/p\/w500\/wVVvvIwDtCgArdp0fsmjcM2tYyr.jpg\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.themoviedb.org\/person\/78303\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Cleto Escobedo 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