Cause of Death Released for ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Musician Cleto Escobedo III

Jimmy Kimmel’s longtime bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III, died from a heart condition. TMZ reports the musician’s heart couldn’t pump enough blood.

The outlet obtained Escobedo’s death certificate and it lists cardiogenic shock as the immediate cause of death. Vasodilatory shock, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver are listed as underlying causes.

Other conditions that contributed to his death include sepsis, graft versus host disease, immunosuppressed, chronic kidney disease and pneumonia.

On the day of his passing, Kimmel took to Instagram to pay tribute to his friend, whom he’d known since they were kids. “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,” he wrote in part on Instagram. “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.”

Several famous faces shared their condolences. “So sorry to hear this Jimmy. He was AWESOME. Love to his family,” Modern Family staple Eric Stonestreet commented. Both Octavia Spencer and Rikki Lake shared heartbroken emojis. He was 59 years old at the time of his death.

The talk show host and musician grew up together in Las Vegas. When the comedian landed his late-night gig in 2003, he fought hard to make Escobedo the leader of Cleto and the Cletones. 

In an emotional tribute during a live telecast of his show, Kimmel shared fond memories of their decades long friendship and rise in the industry together. He called Escobedo a “child prodigy who would get standing ovations in junior high school.” 

According to TMZ, the late musician once said he picked up an instrument because of his dad, stating, “I play sax because he played sax when I was a kid … 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.”