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.

“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,” the talk show host continued. “Cherish your friends and please keep Cleto’s wife, children and parents in your prayers.”

A cause of death was not announced, but Page Six reports that he had complications stemming from a liver transplant.

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