When a band loses a founding member, the immediate practical question is always what to do with the calendar. New Found Glory have made their choice following the death of guitarist Chad Gilbert on September 20. Gilbert passed away peacefully in his sleep on a Sunday morning at the age of 45, ending a five-year fight with cancer. In a public message on Instagram, the group addressed the road ahead, sharing that they will withdraw from one major festival while keeping a very specific series of Florida dates that Gilbert himself had spent months preparing.
The group announced the cancellation of their upcoming appearance at the Aftershock Festival, explaining that they need the time and space to mourn and process the loss together. Their pre-planned sets at the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World, however, will go ahead as scheduled.
For Gilbert, those theme park dates were a personal priority. Anyone who knew him understood his genuine love for Disney, and he had been deeply excited to stand on stage with the band at Epcot. Before his death, Gilbert had been actively working on the setlists and rehearsing as much as his condition allowed so he would be ready to play. New Found Glory had originally intended to publish those setlists in advance with Gilbert, and they plan to maintain that approach as they prepare to take the stage in his honor, dedicating every note played and every lyric sung by the crowd to his memory.
The decision comes after a brutal five-year medical struggle that Gilbert documented openly. His health challenges first became public in 2021 when his wife found him unconscious at home, leading to emergency surgery that revealed a rare tumor known as a pheochromocytoma. The cancer later spread to his liver, which required surgeons to remove half of the organ, his gallbladder, and one adrenal gland. Scans were briefly clear and doctors temporarily declared him cancer-free, but routine checks later that same year uncovered another tumor in his spine. Even after having the affected vertebra surgically removed, the relief proved temporary.
Earlier this year, Gilbert suffered another medical emergency when he lost control of his left hand and leg. That episode led to emergency brain surgery, where doctors discovered three tumors, resulting in a diagnosis of stage four adrenocortical carcinoma. It was an aggressive, rare form of adrenal cancer that he fought up until his passing.
Gilbert's loss has drawn heartfelt reactions from across the alternative music world, including from Hayley Williams, who was married to him from 2016 to 2017. Writing on Instagram, Williams recognized him as a scene legend and reflected on their time together, crediting Gilbert with introducing her to people who changed her life, as well as to the music and culture of the hardcore community. She sent her condolences to his family, his friends, and the broader New Found Glory audience.
A theme park pavilion might seem like an unusual setting for a rock memorial, but the band sees it as a direct link to Gilbert's final wishes. By carrying out the very performances he helped arrange, New Found Glory are turning the stage he worked so hard to reach into their first shared space to celebrate his life.
