With a heavy heart, Jimmy Kimmel returned from vacation Tuesday with a beautiful tribute to Frank Potenza, his uncle who died August 20 at 77.

"Listen, I'm gonna try to do this without crying, but I'm probably gonna fail," a teary-eyed Kimmel told his studio audience as he prepared to discuss the death of Uncle Frank, who maintained a steady presence on his show since it hit the air in 2003. "But just turn away or something, because it's embarrassing. It really is."

Kimmel said his beloved uncle had a "few different kinds of cancer," though doctors are not sure which one caused his death.