Jimmy Kimmel Sobs During Heartfelt Tribute to Friend Cleto Escobedo Following Band Leader’s Death

Jimmy Kimmel is honoring his late friend and show band leader, Cleto Escobedo. On Tuesday, Nov. 11, the comedian became overcome with emotion as he dedicated his 22-minute monologue on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to the leader of “Cleto and the Cletones,” reminiscing on their decades-long friendship. “We’ve been on the air for almost 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’d like to tell you about him, if you don’t mind,” Kimmel began, while his voice cracked. Throughout his monologue, the 57-year-old would continue to cry as he recalled stories of growing up with Cleto. He later explained how he got him and his dad, Cleto Escobedo Sr., to join him on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” once he became host of the ABC late-night show. “I told him the plan. I said, ‘Call your dad. Tell him to come out here. Tell him to bring his sax,’ which, again, he hadn’t played professionally for at that time, like 30 years. I said, ‘Don’t tell him this is an audition because I know he’s going to get nervous,’” he recalled, adding, “So his dad came out from Vegas, he brought his sax. He lost the neck of his saxophone minutes before the gig, but he found it and they played and they were great.” He continued, “They played Pick Up the Pieces by the Average White Band, which is two saxophones, and Lloyd saw it. He saw the father and son together. He said, I love it. And he just got up and left and we’ve been working together every day for almost 23 years now.” As Kimmel concluded his monologue, he became emotional again while addressing and thanking Cleto’s parents.