On Tuesday, Jimmy Kimmel took to Instagram to announce that Cleto Escobedo III, the leader of his show’s band and his childhood best friend, had passed away at the age of 59. In the monologue above, Kimmel pays an incredibly moving tribute to the man he’s known since his family moved to Las Vegas when he was nine years old, and who he ended up working with on Jimmy Kimmel Live! for 22 years.
Over the course of the 22-minute monologue above, Kimmel describes his childhood friendship with Escobedo, explaining that Escobedo and his father both worked as professional saxophone players before they formed the shows’s band when it launched back in 2003.
“I’m heartbroken to lose him. I’m going to take yet another lesson from him and acknowledge how lucky I was to have him literally at my side for so many years,” says a tearful Kimmel. “Cherish your friends. We’re not here forever.”
