The Simpsons staff is mourning the loss of longtime music editor Chris Ledesma who has died at the age of 64. The show announced Ledesma’s death in a tribute at the end of Sunday’s episode with a title card that read “In loving memory of Chris Ledesma.” A cause of death was not revealed.
A tribute to Ledesma’s life and career featured an animated version of Ledesma holding a conductor’s baton and sitting on the Simpsons’ couch with Homer, Marge, Lisa, Maggie and Bart. A smiling Ledesma directed Maggie and Bart as they tried out different instruments.
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Ledesma had worked on The Simpsons since its launch in 1989 and worked on every episode for 33 years until he stepped down in May 2022.
In September 2021, Ledesma marked a “significant milestone”, tweeting that he had worked on The Simspons for half of his life.
Many of Ledesma’s Simpsons colleagues have taken to Twitter to share their memories and pay respects to their longtime co-worker.
“Chris Ledesma was a sweet man who loved his job and was really, really good at it. We miss him,” tweeted writer and co-executive producer Carolyn Omine.
“Chris Ledesma was a sweet, goofy guy with a giant heart — his amazing musical life is played out over 33 years of @TheSimpsons.,” wrote Matt Selman, executive producer and showrunner.
“I was shocked and saddened to learn of Chris Ledesma’s recent passing,” wrote animator Matthew Schofield. “He very kindly arranged for me to sit in on the scoring session for my episode “Black Eyed, Please”. A wonderful guy who genuinely loved his job. RIP Chris.”
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