Chad Gilbert, the lead guitarist and primary songwriter who helped propel New Found Glory to the forefront of turn of the century American rock, died on the morning of September 20. He was 45. His passing came after a five year struggle with cancer, an ordeal he faced with remarkable candor while continuing to write and perform alongside the band he helped launch nearly thirty years ago.
According to a collective statement released by his family and bandmates, Gilbert passed away peacefully in his sleep. His wife, Lisa, and his mother were beside him during his final moments, while a crowd of close friends gathered on short notice to wait in the hospital lobby. The message, signed jointly by Lisa and longtime bandmates Jordan Pundik, Ian Grushka, Cyrus Bolooki, and Dan O'Connor, acknowledged Gilbert's prolific musical legacy across more than a dozen albums, while emphasizing that his proudest devotion was always to his family as a husband and father.
Gilbert's health battles began unexpectedly in December 2021, when his wife discovered him unresponsive at their home. That emergency led to the discovery of pheochromocytoma, a rare form of tumor that originated in his adrenal gland and subsequently spread to his liver. Surgeons carried out an extensive operation, removing his gallbladder, one of his adrenal glands, and roughly half of his liver. While follow up scans the next month showed no remaining traces of the disease, the reprieve was brief. Later that same year, doctors identified a tumor embedded in his spine, which required an additional surgery to extract the affected portion of his vertebra.
The physical toll intensified considerably earlier in 2026. After losing motor function in his left hand and leg, Gilbert underwent emergency brain surgery to address three newly detected tumors. Specialists subsequently updated his prognosis to stage four adrenocortical carcinoma, a particularly aggressive adrenal cancer. Through multiple rounds of operations, therapies, and hospital stays, Gilbert kept himself anchored to his instrument, continuing to write, demo, and track new music with his bandmates whenever his physical energy permitted.
That resolve defined his final year. Gilbert played a leading role in creating New Found Glory's latest full length record, Listen Up!, which arrived in February. Four months after that release, following his brain surgery, he took the stage with the group for a concert in Nashville, performing his guitar parts from a mobility scooter. It was a striking scene that captured how thoroughly his life was bound to live performance, refusing to let severe physical limitations keep him away from the stage.
Born in Florida in 1981, Gilbert spent his adolescence immersed in the state's aggressive underground music network. Before picking up the guitar full time for New Found Glory, he served as the teenage vocalist for the influential hardcore band Shai Hulud, lending his voice to their 1997 debut, Hearts Once Nourished With Hope And Compassion. Shortly thereafter, he formed New Found Glory in Coral Springs with Pundik, Grushka, and Bolooki. Gilbert stepped into the role of lead guitarist, providing the infectious hooks, backing harmonies, and direct lyrical instincts that defined the band as they toured globally through the late nineties and early two thousands.
Gilbert leaves behind an extensive body of work built on close creative friendships and steady persistence. His bandmates noted that his spirit will stay present every time they step onstage and plug in their instruments. For listeners who spent decades singing along to his riffs, Gilbert's playing will stand as a lasting reminder of his stubborn optimism and his total commitment to the songs he built.
