Chad Gilbert, founding guitarist with Florida pop-punks New Found Glory, has died at the age of 45. The news was shared by the band on social media.
"On the morning of September 20th, Chad Everett Gilbert passed away peacefully in his sleep," the post read. "He left this world surrounded by friends and family and took his final breaths with his wife and mother by his side, just as he wished. We are devastated and shocked by how quickly he left us, yet so grateful for how peacefully and smoothly he went.
"The amount of visitors that crowded the hospital lobby at a moment’s notice is a testament to how beloved and cherished Chad was, and always will be. He was a legendary musician, but his favourite accomplishment was being a husband and father. His biggest dreams came true. He is survived by his wife, Lisa, his daughter, Lily, his mother, Jackie, and his brother, Brian.
“Chad’s guitar playing, songwriting, humour, and relentless drive helped shape New Found Glory for nearly three decades. Through more than a dozen albums, endless tours around the world, and more accolades than we ever could have imagined, Chad challenged all of us to grow as musicians, performers, and human beings.
"While we are devastated to lose him, we are so grateful for the incredible life he lived, the memories we shared, and the brotherhood we had. His influence will always be part of New Found Glory, and his spirit will be felt on every stage we stand on, with every note we play.”
Gilbert was born in Coral Springs, Florida, in 1981, and founded New Found Glory when he was just 16. The band released a debut EP, It's All About the Girls, in 1997, before recording their first album, Nothing Gold Can Stay, for Eulogy Records, the independent label started by Morning Again guitarist Morning Again.
"I worked in a movie theatre and I took $300 that I’d saved from working there, and the rest of the guys all took the $300 they’d saved from their jobs and we all got together and made Nothing Gold Can Stay with our own money," Gilbert told Louder. "We had no idea where it would take us, we were just doing it because we loved it, and it’s just crazy to see how things turned out.
"Sticks And Stones [2002 album] is obviously the one that took us all over the world, but when we released Nothing Gold Can Stay on our own with a local label, it got picked up by Drive-Thru, and the wave that went over the States was really cool. We weren’t promoted by a record label; we were promoted purely by our fans and word of mouth. It was insane."
Sticks And Stones peaked at number four on the Billboard album chart and was eventually certified platinum, and the band went on to release another 11 albums – including a covers album and a Christmas album – the most recent being this year's Listen Up!.
In December 2021, Gilbert spent two weeks in hospital to have surgery to remove a rare tumour called a pheochromocytoma. After surgeons removed "half a liver, a gallbladder, and one adrenal gland", Gilbert revealed he was "cancer-free" the following month.
The following year he was diagnosed with a tumour on his spine and "tiny nodules on his lungs". Gilbert was originally scheduled to begin radiation treatment, but doctors discovered the tumour had started growing aggressively, which led to surgery to remove it entirely. 18 months later, he announced that additional pheochromocytomas were discovered in his lungs and back, and that he would undergo an intensive course of chemotherapy.
This year, Gilbert collapsed after a launch party for Listen Up!, and later confirmed that he had undergone emergency brain surgery after three tumours were discovered. More recently, he reported that his metastatic pheochromocytoma had developed into adrenocortical carcinoma, a condition with a much worse prognosis.
"I got my dream," he told People earlier this year. "I always wanted to play music, and I got that, but my biggest dream was to be married to a beautiful wife that would love me and have a daughter. That was my dream, so I accomplished my dream."
