The Jimmy Kimmel Live! team sadly lost a key member this past week. Kimmel confirmed that his longtime bandleader and childhood friend, Cleto Escobedo III, passed away at the age of 59. The host ultimately memorialized his friend during the show’s November 11th broadcast with an incredibly sweet monologue in which he chronicled his personal history with his good friend. Now, it would seem that’s not the only way Kimmel is looking to honor Escobedo, as he revealed some of his other efforts to do so.
Kimmel confirmed Escobedo’s death by way of an Instagram post, and he’s since shared an update, and he confirmed he and his team kickstarted two fundraisers in his late bandleader’s honor. One of them is for UCLA Medical Center, where Escobedo was a patient and, Another fundraiser that’s been started will benefit The Animal Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Kimmel and Escobedo’s hometown, Las Vegas. Kimmel signified these fundraisers by sharing another post on IG. Take a look:
It’s since been confirmed that the Cleto and the Cletones founder died due to cardiogenic shock, though disseminated intravascular coagulation, vasodilatory shock and alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver were also listed as underlying causes, per TMZ. A few other conditions reportedly contributed to the musician’s death, including sepsis, graft versus host disease, immunosuppressed, chronic kidney disease and pneumonia.
Jimmy Kimmel and Cleto Escobedo III had been “inseparable” since they were 9 years old, as the former discussed on social media. Years after they met as neighbors in Las Vegas, Escobedo launched his band around the same time Kimmel was emerging as a comic. Once Kimmel landed his eponymous ABC show, he hoped to have Escobedo’s band – along with his father, Escobedo Sr. – to be the house band, and they eventually auditioned and landed the gig. Kimmel also said this about Escobedo’s family during his monologue (via YouTube):
And, mostly, I want to thank Cleto’s parents, Cleto and Sylvia, for making him and for sharing him with me and with all of us and for treating me like their own son always.
News of Escobedo’s death on November 11 came only days after a taping of Live! was canceled at the last minute. At the time, it was reported that the show wasn’t being aired due to a “personal matter.” Whether that situation was tied to Escobedo specifically is unclear. That show cancellation marked yet another instance of the show being off the air this year as, months earlier, the show was suspended for several days by ABC due to comments Kimmel made about right-wing political pundit Charlie Kirk.
As of this writing, Live! has been off the air for several days, though, as Jimmy Kimmel revealed during the November 11th broadcast that the series would pause production for a little while due to Cleto Escobedo’s passing. Kimmel’s monologue made it more than evident that his friend’s death has hit him quite hard. Escobedo’s passing is indeed sad, but it’s heartwarming that his loved ones are honoring him with such charitable endeavors.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC amid the 2025 TV schedule.