Chad Gilbert, the founding guitarist of New Found Glory, has died at 45. The band and Gilbert’s wife, Lisa Cimorelli, announced it on social media, saying he “passed away peacefully in his sleep” on the morning of September 20. The news went out on Sunday, and by evening the tributes were arriving from bandmates, fellow musicians and fans who grew up with his playing.
The statement did not give a cause of death. Gilbert had spoken openly about his cancer treatment since 2021.
A Final Message From the Band and His Wife
The statement said the band and family were devastated by how quickly he was gone, and grateful for how gently it happened. It said the crowd of visitors in the hospital lobby, gathered at a moment’s notice, showed how much he was loved. It added that he died with his wife and mother beside him, as he had wished.
The statement also said he saw himself as a husband and father. It called him a legendary musician whose favorite accomplishment was “being a husband and father.” He leaves behind his wife and their daughter.
The bandmates who spent nearly three decades with him chose their words carefully. They wrote that his playing, songwriting, humor and relentless drive shaped New Found Glory from the start.
Chad Gilbert and the Birth of New Found Glory
Chad Everett Gilbert was born on March 9, 1981, in Coral Springs, Florida. He played in several local bands before forming New Found Glory in 1997 with Jordan Pundik, Steve Klein and Ian Grushka. Cyrus Bolooki joined soon after, replacing the original drummer. Gilbert left high school after 11th grade, when the band signed to Drive-Thru Records.
He described the band’s origins in simple terms. He recalled a school lunch table of misfits with dyed hair, where nobody cared what you looked like, and you just belonged. The band tried to keep that feeling going.
It worked. New Found Glory became one of the most influential bands in pop-punk history, and Gilbert played on every album. The 2002 album Sticks and Stones and 2004’s Catalyst both reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200. Songs like “My Friends Over You,” “Vicious Love,” “Stay Awhile” and “Ready and Willing” are still played by people who were teenagers in the early 2000s.
His reach went beyond his own band. He sang guest vocals on a track from Fall Out Boy’s From Under the Cork Tree and played guitar on their 2007 song “The Take Over, The Breaks Over.” He also played in hardcore and metalcore groups, including Shai Hulud, and worked as a record producer and songwriter.
The Cancer Battle Chad Gilbert Shared With Fans
In December 2021, Cimorelli found him unconscious at their home. Doctors discovered a large tumor on his adrenal gland that had spread to his liver. Surgeons removed it along with half his liver and his gallbladder, and he was declared cancer-free the following month.
It did not last. The disease later spread to his spine, lungs and brain. Through chemotherapy and a major spinal surgery, he kept recording and touring. He had also posted about every stage of the illness publicly, ICU photos included.
The hardest chapter came this year. Gilbert told Rolling Stone that on the night New Found Glory released its 12th album, Listen Up!, he was sick before the show and his bandmates had to carry him to a chair. He played the release party in Nashville seated, and his left hand would not cooperate. In an Instagram post, he said his left leg kept getting weaker, and he had started stumbling and falling. A trip to the ER found three new tumors in his brain. He had surgery on February 27 and regained the use of his left hand right away.
He spent about a month in hospital before going home. He shared that his radiation oncologist had told him this was “not the end of your story.” In an April interview with People, he said his diagnosis had been updated to stage 4 adrenocortical carcinoma. He later had radiation and immunotherapy for the two tumors that remained.
Back on Stage Before the End
Gilbert returned to the stage with New Found Glory in Nashville on June 15. Afterward he wrote that “I got to play a show in front of my daughter,” something he had not expected to do again. Fans who were there have described it as one of the most emotional New Found Glory shows they have seen.
Tributes Pour In
Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, who has beaten lymphoma himself, wrote that Gilbert was “the best friend to every person he met.” He said Gilbert fought his illness like a joyous, courageous warrior. Other musicians and fans have been posting their own memories all day.
No one has announced funeral arrangements or a memorial yet, and the band has not said what comes next. Any updates are likely to come through New Found Glory’s official social media accounts.
Chad Gilbert was 45. He spent nearly half his life in a band he started with his friends, and he kept playing well after most people would have stopped.
