Become a member today and support independent news at o Late night host Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday paid tribute to his lifelong friend and bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III, who died earlier in the day. He was 59.

Jimmy Kimmel is paying tribute to one of his oldest friends and closest collaborators, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” bandleader Cleto Escobedo III, who has died at 59. The late-night host shared the news Tuesday in an emotional Instagram post,

Kimmel took his audience through the day he met Escobedo, who lived across the street when the host was 10 years old. The two quickly became “24/7, ‘mom, please let me sleepover, please’ kind of friends” (one summer Kimmel says he slept over at the Escobedo house 33 nights in a row) and got up to all sorts of shenanigans,

Cleto Escobedo, Jimmy Kimmel's bandleader and childhood best friend, has died. Look back at this career.

Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel is mourning the death of one of his oldest friends — his show's bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III. Kimmel announced Escobedo's death Tuesday on Instagram, saying “that we are heartbroken is an understatement.

"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," the comedian said.

Jimmy Kimmel paid and emotional tribute to his friend and band leader Cleto Escobedo in his monologue on Tuesday, Nov. 11.