“The Music Never Stopped”: Jimmy Kimmel’s Heartfelt Goodbye to Cleto Escobedo, the Friend Who Made Late Night Swing

It began long before the bright lights of Hollywood — before the late-night monologues, celebrity guests, and thunderous applause. It began on a quiet Las Vegas street in the late 1970s, where two boys lived across from each other and bonded over pranks, laughter, and a shared love of rhythm. One of them was a talkative kid named Jimmy Kimmel. The other, a saxophone prodigy named Cleto Escobedo III.

Decades later, those two kids would grow up to create one of television’s most recognizable late-night sounds — the warm, brassy groove that opened Jimmy Kimmel Live! for more than twenty years. Escobedo didn’t just lead the band. He was the heartbeat of the show, the first note of every night, the smile behind the saxophone that set the tone for the laughs to come.

This week, Hollywood paused its laughter. Cleto Escobedo — beloved musician, longtime bandleader, and Jimmy Kimmel’s childhood best friend — passed away at the age of 61. The news left the entertainment world stunned and the Kimmel family, both on and off the screen, deeply shaken.

The cause of death has not been publicly shared, but industry outlets confirmed that his passing was the “personal reason” behind the abrupt cancellation of last Thursday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! taping. The show returned to air on Monday, and Kimmel is expected to pay tribute to his lifelong friend — the man who had stood by his side, just a few feet away, for every episode since the show’s debut in 2003.

From Las Vegas Streets to Hollywood Stages

Before late-night fame and television history, there were two neighborhood kids running through the desert heat of Las Vegas. Kimmel has often spoken about meeting Cleto in 1977, when his family moved from Brooklyn. “Cleto lived across the street from us,” he said during a 2016 on-air celebration for Escobedo’s 50th birthday. “We began a lifetime of friendship that was highlighted by the kind of torture only an older brother can inflict on you without being arrested.”

Those early years would become the foundation for a bond that outlasted fame, distance, and decades. While Kimmel followed the path of comedy and broadcasting, Escobedo followed the music. He studied hard, played harder, and quickly earned a reputation as one of the most talented young saxophonists in town.

By the mid-1990s, Escobedo had formed his own band, Cleto and the Cletones. The group — smooth, tight, and irresistibly funky — became a staple in the Las Vegas music scene. They played jazz clubs, local festivals, and private events, building a loyal following that admired not just their skill, but their soul.

Escobedo’s talent soon took him beyond the Vegas strip. He toured with Paula Abdul, Marc Anthony, and Earth, Wind & Fire’s Phillip Bailey, among others. He could glide between genres with ease — pop, R&B, Latin, jazz — always with that unmistakable tone: clean, joyous, and full of personality.

But as his career soared, Escobedo never lost touch with his old friend. When Kimmel’s career began to take off in radio and television, the two stayed in close contact, cheering each other on. Neither could have predicted that their professional worlds would one day collide in the most serendipitous way imaginable.

“He Trusted Me With This Job”

In 2003, ABC was preparing to launch a new late-night talk show with Jimmy Kimmel at the helm. Kimmel had a big decision to make: who would lead the house band — the soul of any live show?

He could have chosen a big-name musician, someone already established in Hollywood or New York. Instead, he picked up the phone and called Cleto.

“I always thank him for this gig,” Escobedo told ABC7 in a 2013 interview. “Because he could have tried to get somebody that was established and would help the show more, being a bigger name or whatever. But he trusted me with this job, and I’ve tried to do the best I can.”

That trust became one of the most enduring partnerships in late-night television. Together, Kimmel and Escobedo built Jimmy Kimmel Live! into a show with its own distinct rhythm — sharp comedy backed by soulful sound. Each night, as Kimmel walked out to deliver his monologue, Cleto and the Cletones would be there, laying down the groove that set the mood for millions of viewers.

Escobedo’s band wasn’t just background music. It was a co-star. Their performances punctuated the humor, bridged commercial breaks, and often played into the sketches themselves. Viewers loved the chemistry — the knowing glances between host and bandleader, the friendly banter, the occasional joke at Cleto’s expense that always ended in laughter.

And in a world of Hollywood transience, their friendship never felt scripted. It was real, worn in, and wonderfully human — the kind of bond that can only come from forty years of shared history.

The Cletones Sound: Brass, Groove, and Joy

Cleto Escobedo’s music had its own personality — joyful but never loud, smooth but never sleepy. As a musician, he blended the discipline of a jazz professional with the charisma of a showman. On stage, he played the alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones, sometimes switching mid-performance, sometimes stepping up to sing with the band.

His versatility made Jimmy Kimmel Live! stand out among late-night competitors. Where some shows favored pop-style house bands, Escobedo’s Cletones carried a richer, fuller sound — horns, rhythm, and harmony that pulled from jazz, R&B, and Latin traditions.

Behind the scenes, colleagues say Escobedo was as meticulous as he was kind. He arrived early, fine-tuned every note, and treated his fellow musicians like family. His father, Cleto Escobedo Jr., was also part of the band — a living symbol of generational musicianship that audiences adored.

“He was proud of that,” one show insider recalled. “He loved that his dad was up there with him, doing what they both loved. It gave the show a heart that you could feel.”

Over two decades, the Cletones backed countless music legends who stopped by the show: Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Beyoncé, and Paul McCartney, to name a few. And through it all, Cleto never acted like a celebrity. He acted like a fan living his dream — and he played like it every night.

A Friendship That Outlasted Fame

While Kimmel and Escobedo’s careers soared in tandem, their friendship remained the same as it was in Las Vegas: full of humor, loyalty, and the kind of teasing only old friends can get away with. Kimmel often shared anecdotes about Cleto on-air, joking that his bandleader “still hasn’t paid back that $10 from 1981.”

The laughter wasn’t just for the cameras. Offstage, the two families were deeply intertwined. Escobedo’s children grew up alongside Kimmel’s, and holidays often included both clans.

“Jimmy and Cleto were more like brothers than friends,” said one longtime Kimmel staffer. “You could tell their connection went beyond the show. It was built on years of trust and shared memories.”

When Kimmel marked Escobedo’s 50th birthday on air in 2016, he delivered one of the show’s most heartfelt tributes. “I met Cleto in January of 1977,” Kimmel told the audience, visibly emotional. “We began a lifetime of friendship that was highlighted by the kind of torture that only an older brother can inflict without being arrested.”

It was one of those rare late-night moments when the host dropped the jokes and let sincerity take the lead. Cleto grinned from behind his saxophone, laughing as the audience cheered. The moment said everything that words couldn’t — that this wasn’t just television. It was family.

The Day the Music Paused

When Jimmy Kimmel Live! suddenly canceled its Thursday taping last week, fans were puzzled. There was no public explanation at first — just a notice citing “personal reasons.” Within days, the heartbreaking truth surfaced: Cleto Escobedo had passed away.

The news spread quickly across the entertainment world. Musicians, producers, and television peers reached out privately to share their grief and memories. Kimmel’s show went dark for several days, giving the host and staff time to process the loss of the man who had been there since day one.

By Monday, production resumed, but the mood was different. The familiar energy of Jimmy Kimmel Live! — the applause, the jokes, the music — now carried the weight of absence. Cleto’s chair, his saxophone, his easy grin — all missing. Yet in every note the band played, there was a quiet echo of his spirit.

Remembering Cleto: The Music and the Man

Those who worked with Escobedo describe him as the rare combination of talent and humility. He was confident without arrogance, funny without effort, and compassionate without pretense.

“He had a warmth that filled the room,” said one stage manager. “Even when you were having a rough day, he’d find a way to make you laugh before the cameras rolled.”

Escobedo’s musical résumé reads like a hall of fame tour — from performing with pop icons to leading a nightly television band — but colleagues say his true gift was connection. Whether he was playing for thousands at a concert or dozens in a studio, he had a way of making the moment feel personal.

That gift extended beyond music. Fans who met him at live tapings often remarked on his kindness and accessibility. He stayed after shows to chat, pose for pictures, and thank fans for coming. For a man who spent decades in the spotlight, he never acted like the star of the room — because, to him, the music always came first.

Legacy of a Lifelong Groove

As tributes pour in, Cleto Escobedo’s legacy becomes clear: he wasn’t just part of Jimmy Kimmel Live! — he helped define it. For over twenty years, his saxophone lines announced the start of every show, his humor filled the gaps between punchlines, and his friendship anchored the energy that millions tuned in to feel.

For Kimmel, losing Cleto is more than losing a colleague. It’s saying goodbye to the friend who made the dream possible, the neighbor kid who never stopped believing, the musician who turned friendship into melody.

As the show continues, there will undoubtedly be moments of tribute — songs replayed, memories revisited, laughter shared through tears. Because for Kimmel and everyone who loved Cleto, the music will never really stop.

A Final Note

Cleto Escobedo leaves behind not just a career of music but a blueprint for how to live with grace, humor, and loyalty. His story — from a Las Vegas neighborhood to national television — is a reminder that true success isn’t measured by fame, but by the relationships we build along the way.

He lived a life surrounded by rhythm and friendship, proving that sometimes the most powerful notes aren’t the ones you play, but the ones you leave behind.

In a world that moves too fast and forgets too easily, the sound of Cleto’s saxophone lingers — smooth, steady, joyful — like a friend calling out from across the street, reminding us that the best songs never really end.