Jimmy Kimmel cried at the opening of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday, Nov. 11, during a tribute to his late friend, Cleto Escobedo III, the leader of the show’s house band, Cleto and the Cletones.

The tribute came after Kimmel, 57, announced the death of the “great friend, father, son, musician and man” at age 59 in an Instagram post earlier that same day.

Kimmel began the episode in tears as he came out onstage.

“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,” Kimmel said before sharing a childhood story about Escobedo.

“Everyone loves Cleto… everyone here at the show,” Kimmel later said. “We are devastated by this. It’s not… It’s just not fair.”

The comedian also announced that the Wednesday, Nov. 12, and Thursday, Nov. 13 episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live! were canceled. “We’re going to take the next couple of nights off,” he said, later adding that he and his staff went through with the Nov. 11 episode because Cleto wouldn’t want them to miss interviewing guest Eddie Murphy.

Escobado’s father, Cleto Escobado Sr., is also a member of the Cletones, playing the tenor and alto saxophone. Cleto Sr. also performed in the band during Tuesday night’s episode. Escobedo’s mother was also in the audience.

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Escobedo’s death comes days after it was announced that the Nov. 6 edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live!  would be postponed due to a “personal matter” involving the host.

“To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement,” said Kimmel while announcing the news on Instagram. “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.”

Although the two grew up together, their friendship would only grow stronger when Jimmy Kimmel Live! premiered in 2003, with Escobedo coming on as the leader of Cleto and the Cletones.

The musician reflected on when Kimmel first approached him about joining the show during an ABC Hispanic Latinx Heritage Month featurette in 2021.

“Jimmy called and said, ‘Hey man, I think I’m going to have this show, do you want to be my band leader?’ Of course, I was like, ‘Yes,’ ” said Escobedo at the time. “It’s been the best gig ever.”

“I play sax because he played sax when I was a kid — my dad sacrificed a lot for me,” recalled Escobedo. “He was a musician for many years, he was on the road a lot before I was born. And then when I started going to school, he quit playing just so he could be home with me and got a job as a busboy at Caesar’s Palace and worked there for 30 years.”

In a 2015 interview with ABC7, Kimmel said that Escobedo had “toured with Earth, Wind and Fire, Paula Abdul,” and “had his own record deal” before joining his show.

While Kimmel called him a “child prodigy,” he ultimately wanted him to join Jimmy Kimmel Live! for reasons outside of his talent.

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“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,” he said.