Jimmy Kimmel Pays Tribute to Cleto Escobedo III. Here’s A Look Back At His Legendary Career
Cleto Escobedo III died on Nov. 11, 2025, following months of illness. He was 59 years old. The death sent sadness through Hollywood. Jimmy Kimmel shared a touching tribute to Escobedo during his recent monologue. For 22 minutes, Kimmel spoke about his lifelong friendship with Escobedo, starting when his family moved from Brooklyn to Las Vegas in 1977. The childhood friendship lasted long into adulthood. Here is a look at Escobedo’s career in music.
Cleto Escobedo III is known best as the bandleader on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Cleto and the Cletones have been playing live for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” since the show debuted in 2003. For two decades, the musician led his band on one of the country’s most beloved late-night shows. Kimmel became emotional as he delivered a touching monologue revisiting his friendship with Escobedo III.
“We’ve been on the air for 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, and I would like to tell you about him, if you don’t mind,” Kimmel said through tears during his monologue.
He opened up about how, when he moved to Las Vegas, Escobedo III was the first kid he made friends with. Kimmel added, “Cleto was a phenomenal saxophone player from a very young age. He was a child prodigy. He would get standing ovations in junior high school, if you can imagine that.”
Escobedo III comes from a musical home
In an oral history recorded for Texas Tech University, Escobedo III opened up about the influence his father had on his musical career. His father was a professional musician who paused his dream to raise his son. At his mother’s insistence, Escobedo III started to take saxophone lessons from his father. This started the young boy on a career path that would bring him fame and success.
According to The San Fernando Desert Sun, Escobedo III started to play with jazz bands while attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). He was playing for several bands and growing his skills on the saxophone. By his junior year in college, Escobedo III was offered a job with one of the bands.
Santa Fe offered the musician a 15-week job at $350 a week. That job led to an 8-week job in Atlantic City, and he asked his father if he could take a semester off and take the job. With his father’s blessing, Escobedo III left school and never looked back.
His big break came in 1990 with Paula Abdul
Escobedo III joined Paula Abdul during her “Forever Your Girl” tour in 1990. The tour was the start of a successful musical career. For years, he worked with some of the biggest names in Latin music, including Marc Anthony. It was when he was on tour with Anthony that Kimmel reached out to him with the opportunity to play on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Escobedo III had worked with Kimmel as a musician on the Comedy Central series “The Man Show.” It is reported that around the same time, Escobedo III was looking to end his musical career. “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” kept him playing music and, in a full circle moment, started to play with his father.
Cleto Escobedo III’s father joined his son as part of Cleto and the Cletones. They were proud to be the only father-son musical duo on a late-night show. The two played together from 2003 to 2022, almost two decades.
Cleto Escobedo III is survived by his parents Sylvia and Cleto Jr., his wife Lori, and his children; a son Cruz and a daughter Jesse.
