Chad Gilbert, who underwent brain surgery earlier this year, took the stage in Nashville, Tennessee four months later in a mobility scooter to finish out a New Found Glory set. It would become one of the final images fans have of him.
New Found Glory announced on their social media accounts on September 20 (US time) that founding guitarist Chad Everett Gilbert had passed away at 45. The statement said he "passed away peacefully in his sleep," surrounded by "friends and family," with his wife and mother by his side, "just as he wanted." The band also noted that after the news broke, the hospital lobby quickly filled with visitors, "proof of just how loved Chad was."
Bandmates Jordan Pundik, Ian Grushka, Cyrus Bolooki and Dan O'Connor, along with Gilbert's wife Lisa, wrote in a joint tribute: "Chad's guitar playing, songwriting, humor, and relentless drive have shaped what New Found Glory has been for nearly three decades." The tribute noted the band's more than a dozen albums and worldwide tours, adding, "His influence will remain in New Found Glory forever, and his spirit will be felt in every stage we stand on and every note we play."
Five Years Fighting Cancer, Still in the Studio and on Stage This Year
Gilbert's illness began in December 2021, when his wife found him collapsed at home. Rushed to the hospital, he was diagnosed with a rare tumor called pheochromocytoma, originating in the adrenal gland and spreading to the liver. Doctors removed half his liver, his gallbladder and one adrenal gland. The following month, he announced he had "officially beaten cancer," with clean scan results. Later that year, doctors found tumors in his spine, and he underwent surgery again to remove the affected vertebrae, saying at the time that "the cancer in my spine is gone."
But that wasn't the end of it. In early 2026, Gilbert was hospitalized after gradually losing control of his left hand and foot. Doctors found three tumors in his brain and he underwent emergency brain surgery, after which his diagnosis was updated to stage 4 adrenocortical carcinoma. Even so, he continued working on New Found Glory's latest album, "Listen Up!," released in February. Four months after his surgery, he returned to the stage, completing a show in Nashville from a mobility scooter.
Born in Florida in 1981, Gilbert got his start as a teenager fronting the hardcore band Shai Hulud, appearing on the group's landmark 1997 album "Hearts Once Nourished With Hope And Compassion." In the late 1990s, he co-founded New Found Glory in Coral Springs, Florida with Jordan Pundik, Ian Grushka and Cyrus Bolooki, serving as lead guitarist, backing vocalist and one of the band's main songwriters. The band released its debut album "Nothing Gold Can Stay" in 1999, followed by their self-titled album in 2000, and cemented their place in the early-2000s pop-punk wave with 2002's "Sticks And Stones."
Beyond the band, Gilbert was also a well-known producer in the pop-punk and hardcore scenes, working on A Day To Remember's "Homesick" and "What Separates Me From You," as well as albums for bands like H2O and Terror. He also had his own solo project, What's Eating Gilbert, and led New Found Glory's hardcore side project International Superheroes Of Hardcore. Gilbert is survived by his wife Lisa, daughter Lily, mother Jackie and brother Brian.
