Jimmy Kimmel’s band member and lifelong best friend Cleto Escobedo has passed away.

We hear that house band leader Escobedo had complications stemming from a liver transplant.

“Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III,” Kimmel posted on Instagram today. “To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement. Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was nine years old. The fact that we got to work together every day is a dream neither of us could ever have imagined would come true. Cherish your friends and please keep Cleto’s wife, children and parents in your prayers.”

We hear Escobedo was hospitalized last week, with Kimmel canceling his Thursday episode last minute to be by Escobedo’s side.

Kimmel and the mu

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