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Washington DC (US):<\/strong> Cleto Escobedo III, the beloved bandleader of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and frontman of Cleto and the Cletones, passed away at the age of 59. The news was shared by host Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday, November 11, who paid an emotional tribute to his childhood friend and longtime collaborator.<\/p>\n \u201cEarly this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician, and man \u2014 my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III,\u201d Kimmel wrote in a heartfelt post. \u201cTo say that we are heartbroken is an understatement.\u201d<\/p>\n Reflecting on their bond, Kimmel said, \u201cCleto and I have been together since we were nine years old. Getting to work side by side every day was something we could never have dreamed of, but we got to live it.\u201d<\/p>\n He ended his message urging people to \u201ccherish your friends\u201d and to keep Cleto\u2019s family \u2014 his wife, children, and parents \u2014 in their thoughts and prayers.<\/p>\n A gifted saxophonist, Escobedo built an impressive career performing with major artists such as Phillip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire, Paula Abdul, Marc Anthony, Tom Scott, and Take Six.<\/p>\n When Kimmel\u2019s late-night show premiered in 2003, he turned to his lifelong friend to lead the house band \u2014 a decision rooted not just in Escobedo\u2019s talent, but in their deep friendship.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course I wanted great musicians, but more than that, I wanted someone I had real chemistry with,\u201d Kimmel said in a 2015 interview. \u201cThere\u2019s no one I\u2019ve ever had better chemistry with than Cleto.\u201d<\/p>\n Escobedo\u2019s passing leaves a void in the Jimmy Kimmel Live! family and in the hearts of countless fans who admired his warmth, humor, and musical brilliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Washington DC (US): Cleto Escobedo III, the beloved bandleader of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and frontman of Cleto and the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2342,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1557],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-others"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"colormag-highlighted-post":false,"colormag-featured-post-medium":false,"colormag-featured-post-small":false,"colormag-featured-image":false,"colormag-default-news":false,"colormag-featured-image-large":false},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18e12f979c7dbcc2096868fc531de295a11443c392b4bb6e60ce343131707eaa?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":false,"magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":" Washington DC (US): Cleto Escobedo III, the beloved bandleader of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and frontman of Cleto and the","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["Others"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":2,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":false,"medium":false,"thumbnail":false},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/mediapbn.com\/?author=3"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18e12f979c7dbcc2096868fc531de295a11443c392b4bb6e60ce343131707eaa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"Others<\/a>","videoUrl":"","yoast_head":"\n