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Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel <\/a>announced some sad news for fans of his show on Tuesday: the death of his longtime friend and bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Escobedo, who died Tuesday morning at 59, had been absent from the show for months because of illness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Although the cause of Escobedo\u2019s death hasn\u2019t been announced, Kimmel posted the news on his Instagram page<\/a> and said, \u201cTo say that we are heartbroken is an understatement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Kimmel and Escobedo have a shared history that goes back decades.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cCleto and I have been inseparable since I was nine years old,\u201d Kimmel explained. \u201cThe fact that we got to work together every day is a dream neither of us could ever have imagined would come true.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Escobedo and Kimmel grew up in Las Vegas across the street from each other, and<\/span> Kimmel lobbied for Escobedo to be his bandleader when ABC hired him in 2003.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI wanted somebody I had chemistry with. And there\u2019s nobody in my life I have better chemistry with than him,\u201d Kimmel said later.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n