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Jimmy Kimmel Remembers His Best Friend and Bandleader Cleto Escobedo III<\/span>
\n\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n\n And \u201cnot just regular friends\u201d Kimmel explained.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe became like 24-7, \u2018Mom, please let me sleep over please\u2019 kind of friends,\u201d he said. \u201cOne summer I slept over at the Escobedo house 33 nights in a row.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n The pair had all types of fun from shooting pool to boxing for hours in the backyard. They also shared a love of late night host David Letterman.\n <\/p>\n
\n Kimmel also hailed Escobedo for being a fabulous saxophone player and shared a clip of his friend performing with Paula Abdul.\n <\/p>\n
\n Escobedo\u2019s career included touring with big names, including Luis Miguel, Marc Anthony, and Philip Bailey from Earth, Wind and Fire. That all led to working with Kimmel after he landed his late night talk show in 2002.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cOf course I wanted Cleto to lead my band,\u201d Kimmel said. \u201cWe grew up watching Dave and Paul\u201d \u2014 David Letterman and his bandleader Paul Shaffer \u2014 \u201cand the idea that anyone other than leading the band was terrifying.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Escobedo brought his father into the band, which they named Cleto and the Cletones. The elder Escobedo was on hand at Tuesday\u2019s show and the bandleader\u2019s mom, Sylvia, was in the audience, as Kimmel said she often would be, saying a rosary.\n <\/p>\n
\n Kimmel helped break the news of his friend\u2019s death, posting on social media \u201cEarly this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cTo say that we are heartbroken is an understatement. Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was nine years old,\u201d Kimmel wrote. <\/a>\u201cThe 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\u2019s wife, children and parents in your prayers.\u201d\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n