Cleto Escobedo III’s legacy lives on. “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” has honored Escobedo, the program’s house band leader who died Nov. 11 at age 59, by changing the musical group’s name. During the late night show’s title sequence on Monday’s episode, Cleto and the Cletones was officially rebranded as The Cletones. Cleto Escobedo performing with his … Read more
Jimmy Kimmel is still mourning his close friend and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” band leader Cleto Escobedo. The grieving late-night host recently took to social media to announce the launch of two fundraisers on Escobedo’s behalf following his shocking death earlier this week at the age of 59. “Cleto was always kind and eager to help … Read more
Paula Abdul is mourning the loss of the late Cleto Escobedo. After the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” bandleader died on Tuesday at the age of 59, the singer, 63, paid tribute to the musician. “My heart is heavy today as we say goodbye to the incredible Cleto Escobedo III,” Abdul wrote via Instagram on Wednesday alongside footage of the pair … Read more
Jimmy Kimmel paid homage to his late best friend and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” band leader, Cleto Escobedo III, during the “hardest” opening monologue the late-night host said he ever had to deliver. Kimmel broke down in tears on Tuesday night’s show as he shared intimate details about his “great friend, father, son, musician and man” … Read more
Cleto Escobedo, Jimmy Kimmel’s lifelong friend and band leader on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” has died. He was 59. Kimmel, 57, announced the news in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III,” Kimmel wrote. Jim Gentleman, Jimmy Kimmel and … Read more