Jimmy Kimmel shared his damaged coronary heart for 22 minutes with his viewers Tuesday night time.
The late night time host used his “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” monologue to discuss his childhood friend who was additionally his bandleader. Cleto Escobedo III died at the age of 59 on Tuesday.
“We’ve been on the air for almost 23 years and I’ve had to do some hard monologues along the way, but this one’s the hardest, because late last night, early this morning, we lost someone very special who was much too young to go,” Kimmel mentioned on the open of his present. “And I’d like to tell you about him if you wouldn’t mind.”
He met Escobedo once they had been youngsters, after Kimmel’s household moved from Brooklyn to Las Vegas. Escobedo, who he referred to as Junior, lived on his block.
And “not just regular friends” Kimmel defined.
“We became like 24-7, ‘Mom, please let me sleep over please’ kind of friends,” he mentioned. “One summer I slept over at the Escobedo house 33 nights in a row.”
The pair had all varieties of enjoyable from capturing pool to boxing for hours within the yard. They additionally shared a love of late night time host David Letterman.
Kimmel additionally hailed Escobedo for being a superb saxophone participant and shared a clip of his friend performing with Paula Abdul.
Escobedo’s profession included touring with massive names, together with 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 time discuss present in 2002.
“Of course I wanted Cleto to lead my band,” Kimmel mentioned. “We grew up watching Dave and Paul” — David Letterman and his bandleader Paul Shaffer — “and the idea that anyone other than leading the band was terrifying.”
Escobedo introduced his father into the band, which they named Cleto and the Cletones. The elder Escobedo was readily available at Tuesday’s present and the bandleader’s mother, Sylvia, was within the viewers, as Kimmel mentioned she typically can be, saying a rosary.
Kimmel helped break the information of his friend’s dying, posting on social media “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 nine years old,” Kimmel wrote. “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.”