SAT . Jimmy Kimmel’s Bandleader Cleto Escobedo III Dies at 59: We’ve Been ‘Inseparable Since I Was 9 Years Old’

Cleto Escobedo III, Jimmy Kimmel‘s close friend and the bandleader of his talk show, has died. He was 59.

Kimmel shared the news on Instagram, writing, “Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III. To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement. Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was 9 years old. The 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’s wife, children and parents in your prayers.”

Escobedo and Kimmel were childhood friends and neighbors growing up in Las Vegas. As Kimmel went into comedy, Escobedo formed the band Cleto and the Cletones in 1995, mostly playing saxophone. When Kimmel launched “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on ABC in 2003, he asked Escobedo to lead the house band. “I always thank him for this gig because he could have tried to get somebody that was established and would help the show more, being a bigger name or whatever,” Escobedo told ABC7 in a 2013 interview. “But he trusted me with this job, and I’ve tried to do the best I can.”

Escobedo’s cause of death is unknown, but Variety has confirmed that his condition was the “personal reason” Kimmel’s show was abruptly canceled on Thursday. “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” returned on Monday with a new episode, and will also broadcast a new episode on Tuesday, with Kimmel expected to address his friend and bandleader’s passing.

Escobedo played the alto, tenor and soprano saxophones and also sang as part of the band. Outside of performing on Kimmel’s show, Escobedo toured with Paula Abdul, Marc Anthony and Earth, Wind & Fire’s Phillip Bailey. Escobedo’s father, Cleto Escobedo Jr., is also a part of the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” house band.

In 2016, Kimmel celebrated Escobedo’s 50th birthday on air with a tribute: “I met Cleto in January of 1977 when my family moved from Brooklyn to Las Vegas. Cleto lived across the street from us… We began a lifetime of friendship that was highlighted by the kind of torture that only an older brother can inflict on you without being arrested.”