Some big changes are coming to Jimmy Kimmel Live. Shortly after Cleto Escobedo III died, the band he led changed their name to honor him.
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Previously known as Cleto and the Cletones, the show’s house band will now be known as The Cletones. The change was revealed during the title sequence on the Nov. 19 episode of the late night series.
The change came one week after Kimmel, a lifelong friend of Escobedo, announced the musician’s Nov. 11 death.
“Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III,” Kimmel wrote on Instagram. “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,” he continued. “Cherish your friends and please keep Cleto’s wife, children and parents in your prayers.”
Kimmel also paid tribute to Escobedo during his Nov. 11 monologue. During his tearful time on stage, Kimmel said he and those who worked at the show were “devastated” by Escobedo’s death, further lamenting, “It’s just not fair.”
Kimmel noted that he decided to go on with the show as planned because Escobedo wouldn’t have wanted them to miss out on interviewing that night’s guest, Eddie Murphy.
Escobedo’s father, Cleto Escobedo Sr., who’s also in Kimmel’s house band, likewise showed up and performed the night of his son’s death. The late musician’s mother was also in the studio audience.
What to Know About Cleto Escobedo III
Escobedo founded Cleto and the Cletones in 1995. When Kimmel got his late night show in 2003, he recommended the saxophone player to serve as his band leader.
“I just thought, ‘Oh my God. I have a talk show. Cleto has to be my band leader,’” Kimmel told ABC7 in 2015. “I was nervous, because I thought they’d say, ‘We don’t want your friend to be the band leader.’ So I took the president of ABC to see him play with his band, and he loved it.”
The rest is history, as Kimmel noted, “Of course I wanted great musicians, but I wanted somebody I had chemistry with. And there’s nobody in my life I have better chemistry with than him.”
Photo by Randy Holmes/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
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