Chad Gilbert, New Found Glory’s founding guitarist, dies aged 45 — SkimNews
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- Chad Gilbert, founding guitarist of New Found Glory, died at 45, with his family announcing on Sunday that he "passed away peacefully in his sleep" alongside his wife and mother
- Gilbert told People magazine in April he had been diagnosed with stage four adrenocortical carcinoma after doctors discovered three brain tumors, including one "the size of a walnut"
- He had been undergoing treatment for metastatic pheochromocytoma — a type of adrenal cancer — since 2021, and underwent successful brain surgery on February 27, regaining function of his left hand immediately
- In August, Gilbert revealed on Instagram he had 4.5 liters of fluid drained from his lungs after an ER visit, writing that it "kicked my butt" and left him rebuilding his strength
- New Found Glory, founded in 1997 in Coral Springs, Florida, has 14 studio albums and was in the middle of a summer tour with upcoming dates in Orlando and Sacramento
- Bandmates Jordan Pundik, Ian Grushka and Cyrus Bolooki said Gilbert's guitar playing and songwriting "helped shape New Found Glory for nearly three decades"
- Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 paid tribute in Rolling Stone, calling Gilbert his "little brother" — underscoring how widely Gilbert's loss is reverberating across the pop-punk community
Why it matters: New Found Glory was mid-tour with upcoming shows in Orlando and Sacramento when Gilbert died, leaving the band's immediate plans uncertain. His publicly documented cancer battle had escalated to stage four ACC with brain tumors and 4.5 liters of fluid drained from his lungs — showing how aggressively the disease progressed despite treatment. His death ends a 28-year run as a founding songwriter of a defining pop-punk act.
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