Jimmy Kimmel has had an emotional year. First, there was thesuspensionof his show, following remarks about the death of Charlie Kirk. Then his resoundingreturn.
But on Nov. 11, he faced his audience and spoke from the heart about thedeath of his bandleader, Cleto Escobedo. Escobedo, 59, was more than a musician and coworker — he was also Kimmel's best friend from childhood.
The two grew up as neighbors in Las Vegas in the 1970s, and quickly became inseparable. "Cleto taught me all the dirty stuff," Kimmel joked, telling stories about "carousing" with friends in cars and trips to Vegas novelty stores, where Escobedo would come home with pockets full of things like large rubber penises.
"We had so many adventures. We would laugh so hard, we had our own language," the late-night host said. "We loved all the same things. Baseball, fishing, boxing, (Muhammad) Ali, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Woody Allen, Michael McDonald, Huey Lewis, Stevie Wonder, and most of all David Letterman."
Kimmel shared the story of how Escobedo was a "phenomenal sax player" who followed in the footsteps of his father. Years earlier, the elder Cleto Escobedo had given up his career because he didn't want to go on the road and miss out on raising his family. His son, Cleto III, eventually played professionally, even touring with Paula Abdul and landing a record deal. When the album didn't take off, he went back out on the road and played in local bars with his band.
Then, in 2002, Kimmel got his talk show. "When you do a show like this, you need a few things. You need a desk, an announcer, a Guillermo, and you need a band," he said. "And of course I wanted Cleto to lead my band." He wanted something else, too: for Cleto's dad to be a part of it.
But Kimmel worried about selling the idea to the network − a pitch about hiring his best friend from grade school, who played sax didn't sound so convincing. "But ithadto be him," he said. He set up an audition and told Escobedo to bring his father, who hadn't played in more than two decades. The network rep loved their performance, "and we've been working together almost every day for 23 years now," Kimmel said.
"I've often said the single best thing about doing this show was getting the opportunity to allow Cleto Sr. to pick up where he left off and become a musician again with his son," he said.
Telling this story brought Kimmel to tears, and he pointed out Cleto's mom, Sylvia, in the audience. The pair have been his "second parents," he explained. "Since the fourth grade, I've known them; 47 years, these people have never yelled at me, not one time," he joked. He also mentioned Cleto's wife, Lori, and their kids, Jessie and Cruz. "I hope I can remind them as they grow up how much he loves them, because it's a lot," he said, nearly sobbing.
Though Escobedo's cause of death has not been announced, Kimmel thanked the doctors and nurses at UCLA Health who had taken "incredibly good care" of the sax player, as well as family and friends who were supportive for "these awful few months."
The monologue included laughs, too, including memories of how the pair had a habit of mooning people and how Escobedo continued to "slip his pants down" as a joke on the set.
Before announcing the show would take "the next couple of nights off," Kimmel reminded the audience, "Cherish your friends. We're not here forever."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Jimmy Kimmel breaks down as he remembers Cleto Escobedo
