Jimmy Kimmel Tears Up Honoring Late Bandleader Cleto Escobedo III, Show Taking Rest Of Week Off: ‘Cherish Your Friends, We’re Not Here Forever’

Jimmy Kimmel delivered an emotional monologue Tuesday, honoring his late childhood friend and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” bandleader Cleto Escobedo III, who died that day at the age of 59. 

“We’ve been on the air for almost 23 years, and I’ve had to do some hard monologues along the way,” Kimmel said through tears at the top of the show. “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, and I’d like to tell you about him, if you don’t mind.” (Watch the monologue in full above.) 

The…