Cleto Escobedo III turned 59

Cleto Escobedo III, Jimmy Kimmel’s close friend and talk show bandleader, has died. He was 59.

Kimmel shared the news on Instagramwriting, “Early this morning we lost a dear friend, father, son, musician and husband, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III. To say we are heartbroken is an understatement. Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was nine years old. The fact that we had to work together every day is a dream that neither of us ever 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. While Kimmel turned to comedy, Escobedo formed the band Cleto and the Cletones in 1995, playing primarily the saxophone. When Kimmel “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” launched on ABC in 2003, he asked Escobedo to lead the house band. “I always thank him for this performance because he could have tried to find someone who was more established and would help the show more, like a bigger name or whatever,” Escobedo told ABC7 in an interview with ABC7. Interview from 2013. “But he trusted me with this job, and I tried to do my best.”

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!” returns Monday with Kimmel as host.

In addition to appearing on Kimmel’s show, Escobedo toured with Paula Abdul, Marc Anthony and Phillip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire.