Cleto Escobedo , the beloved Jimmy Kimmel Live! bandleader of Cleto and the Cletones, died on November 11, 2025. He was 59. Jimmy Kimmel was the one to break the news in a heartbreaking statement, encouraging others to “cherish your friends and please keep Cleto’s wife, children and parents in your prayers.”

“Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III,” Kimmel wrote via Instagram alongside a picture of Escobedo on stage. “To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement. Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was 9 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.”

Below, learn about Cleto and what happened to the beloved

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