Cleto Escobedo III died suddenly last week after 22 years leading the house band on the late-night show

DICKY BARRETT, JIMMY EARL, CLETO ESCOBEDO, JONATHAN DRESEL, CLETO ESCOBEDO JR., TOSHI YANAGI, JEFF BABKO.Credit : Mitch Haddad/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Jimmy Kimmel Live! isn’t the same without the late Cleto Escobedo III.

The late-night show’s opening in its Monday, Nov. 17 episode looked a little different. The program’s house band, which used to be called “Cleto and the Cletones,” renamed itself to “The Cletones” following leader Escobedo’s death a week prior.

Cleto Escobedo III.Ethan Miller/Getty

The artist died at the age of 59 on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Jimmy Kimmel shared the news in an Instagram post the same day.

“Early this morning, we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III,” he wrote. “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.”

Kimmel, 58, went on to host Live! that night, tearfully opening his monologue with a special tribute to his childhood best friend, calling it the “hardest” one he’s ever had to deliver.

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

“Even though 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,” the host added.

Cleto Escobedo Sr., who was also in the band with his son playing tenor and alto saxophones, performed during the emotional Nov. 11 taping.

Kimmel later cancelled the following shows on Nov. 12 and Nov. 13.

Jimmy Kimmel and Cleto Escobedo III.Randy Holmes/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

According to a death certificate obtained by PEOPLE, Escobedo’s immediate cause of death was cardiogenic shock, while vasodilatory shock, disseminated intravascular coagulation and alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver are listed as underlying causes.

The document further stated that other conditions that contributed to the musician’s death were sepsis, graft versus host disease, immunosuppression, chronic kidney disease and pneumonia.

Cleto and the Cletones provided the music for Live! since the show’s 2003 premiere. In 2021, Escobedo even called it the “best gig ever.”

“I play sax because he played sax when I was a kid — my dad sacrificed a lot for me,” he said during an ABC Hispanic Latinx Heritage Month featurette at the time.

“He was a musician for many years, he was on the road a lot before I was born,” Escobedo continued. “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.”