Chris Ledesma dead at 64 – The Simpsons legend dies after working on every episode for 33 years since its 1989 premiere

THE Simpsons legend Chris Ledesma has died after working on the cartoon for more than three decades.

The music editor, 64, passed away just months after stepping down in May 2022.

A tribute to Ledesma appeared on The Simpson’s episode “My Life as a Vlog” which aired on New Year’s Day.

It was the 745th program of the hugely popular sitcom.

Ledesma, from California, was depicted as a cartoon and was seen sitting on the family’s famous sofa.

He was waving a baton while Lisa was playing her saxophone.

Maggie was seen rattling a tambourine while Marge and Homer could be seen looking at Ledesma.

Dozens of tributes have been paid to Ledesma as news of his death emerged.

Screenwriter Al Jean paid homage to Ledesma as he said: “A wonderful, hard-working, very talented man who will be missed by all he knew.”

And, writer Josh Weinstein posted: “Chris Ledesma was one of the kindest, mega-talented people working on a crew full of kind, mega-talented people.

“I hadn’t worked with him in a while but his friendliness over Twitter these last few years was truly felt. Rest in peace, dear Chris.”

Matt Selman described his former colleague as a “sweet and goofy guy”.

The animator Matthew Schofield said Ledesma “loved his job”.

He said: “I was shocked and saddened to learn of Chris Ledesma’s recent passing.

“He very kindly arranged for me to sit in on the scoring session for my episode “Black Eyed, Please”.

In September 2021, Ledesma marked a milestone online.

He revealed at the time that he was 23,242 days old and said he had worked on The Simpsons for more than 11,000 days.

He said that he was “grateful and blessed”, adding: “Not many can say they have worked at ANY job any more for LITERALLY half their lives.”

Ledesma was inundated with messages congratulating him on the impressive feat.