{"id":11353,"date":"2025-11-12T11:36:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T11:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/?p=11353"},"modified":"2025-11-12T11:36:04","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T11:36:04","slug":"jimmy-kimmels-longtime-friend-and-bandleader-dies-at-59","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/?p=11353","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s longtime friend and bandleader dies at 59"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"79\" data-end=\"169\"><strong data-start=\"79\" data-end=\"169\">Jimmy Kimmel Mourns the Loss of His Lifelong Friend and Bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"171\" data-end=\"331\">Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is grieving the loss of his lifelong best friend and <em data-start=\"253\" data-end=\"273\">Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/em> bandleader, <strong data-start=\"286\" data-end=\"308\">Cleto Escobedo III<\/strong>, who has died at 59.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"333\" data-end=\"657\">Kimmel shared the news on Instagram, writing:<br data-start=\"378\" data-end=\"381\" \/>\u201cEarly 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 nine years old\u2026 Please keep his family in your prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"659\" data-end=\"839\">The two met as kids in Las Vegas, bonding over music and mischief. Kimmel often joked about their wild childhood, recalling bike crashes and pranks that defined their friendship.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"841\" data-end=\"1142\">When <em data-start=\"846\" data-end=\"866\">Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/em> premiered in 2003, there was no question who would lead the band. \u201cIt had to be Cleto,\u201d Kimmel said. For over two decades, Cleto and his band, <strong data-start=\"1010\" data-end=\"1036\">Cleto and the Cletones<\/strong>, filled the studio with laughter and unforgettable music\u2014often joined by his father, Cleto Escobedo Jr.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1144\" data-end=\"1323\">Born in Las Vegas on August 23, 1966, Cleto grew up surrounded by music and went on to perform with artists like Paula Abdul and Earth, Wind &amp; Fire before joining Kimmel\u2019s show.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1325\" data-end=\"1499\">Kimmel called their partnership a lifelong dream come true. Their friendship\u2014rooted in childhood and carried through decades of music and laughter\u2014remains a lasting legacy.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1501\" data-end=\"1636\">Cleto is survived by his parents, wife Lori, children Cruz and Jesse, and countless fans who will never forget his warmth and talent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jimmy Kimmel Mourns the Loss of His Lifelong Friend and Bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is grieving the loss of his lifelong best friend and Jimmy Kimmel Live! bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III, who has died at 59. Kimmel shared the news on Instagram, writing:\u201cEarly this morning, we lost a great friend, father,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/albotips.com\/?p=11353\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s longtime friend and bandleader dies at 59&rdquo;<\/span> &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11353"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11355,"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11353\/revisions\/11355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/albotips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}