WASHINGTON — Cleto Escobedo III, the band leader for Cleto and the Cletones on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," has died. He was 59.

Escobedo, who was Kimmel's longtime friend, died on Tuesday. Kimmel announced his friend's death on Instagram.

"Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III. To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement. Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was nine years old," Kimmel said in his post on Tuesday. "The fact that we got to work together every day is a dream neither of us could ever have imagined would come true."

Kimmel opened his show Tuesday night in tears.

“We’ve been on the air for almost 23 years and I’ve had to do some hard monologues along the way,” he said. “This one’s the

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