Cleto Escobedo III, most known as the band leader on Jimmy Kimmel Live, has reportedly died at the age of 59. The talk show host took to Instagram this week to confirm the news of his close friend's demise, writing, “Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III. 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. Cherish your friends and please keep Cleto’s wife, children and parents in your prayers.” As of this writing, his cause of death is unclear. Variety has reported that Escobedo is most known for having founded he band Cleto and the Cletones in 1995. He mostly played the saxophone for them. When Jimmy Kimmel launched his talk show in 2003, he asked the musician to lead the band, a role he held for over 2 decades. Jimmy Kimmel and Cleto Escobedo III's decades-long friendship explored: Variety has reported that Cleto Escobedo III's shocking demise was the reason behind Jimmy Kimmel axing his show on Thursday, citing a "personal reason” at the time. The musician was reportedly absent from the ABC show for months after he fell ill. An alleged email from Kimmel's audience team read at the time: "Tonight's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live has been postponed. Apologies for any inconvenience. We [sic] will contact you to reschedule for a future taping. Thanks." Cleto Escobedo III and Jimmy Kimmel grew up down the street from each other in Las Vegas. They became friends at the age of 9 and would come to perform in school bands alongside each other. They also had a shared love for David Letterman. “He was a child prodigy,” Kimmel told WABC in 2015. “Like the whole school would gather to watch. He’d get standing ovations.” As for asking his friend to lead the band on his talk show, he said, “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.” When he was not performing late night, he was touring alongside Paula Abdul, Marc Anthony, and Phillip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire. He also reportedly played alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones and would occasionally sing during the musical segments and comedy bits on the show.