Punk & Hardcore
Chad Gilbert, guitarist and songwriter of New Found Glory, died on the morning of Sunday 20 September in Nashville. He was 45.
“On the morning of September 20th, Chad Everett Gilbert passed away peacefully in his sleep,” reads the joint statement. “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 wanted.” It’s signed by his wife, Lisa Cimorelli, and his four bandmates: Jordan Pundik, Ian Grushka, Cyrus Bolooki and Dan O’Connor.
Gilbert was born in Coral Springs, Florida, on 9 March 1981. He sang in the hardcore band Shai Hulud from 1995 to 1998, before joining New Found Glory, and returned to Shai Hulud from 2012 to 2013. In the Florida band he played lead guitar and sang backing vocals. He also produced for other artists: H2O’s “Nothing To Prove” (2008) and three A Day To Remember albums, including “Homesick” (2009).
“Chad’s playing, his songs, his humour and his relentless drive shaped New Found Glory for nearly three decades,” his bandmates write. “Across more than a dozen albums, endless tours around the world and more recognition than we ever could have imagined, Chad challenged all of us to grow as musicians, as performers and as people.” Mark Hoppus, of Blink-182, added: “Chad was everyone’s best friend. The most positive and creative force in any room he walked into.”
His illness dated back to December 2021, when he had emergency surgery for a pheochromocytoma. In 2022 a second one was found on his spine, and in 2023 he began chemotherapy for others in his lungs and back. Earlier this year he had surgery to remove three brain tumours, and in April the diagnosis was reclassified as stage-four adrenocortical carcinoma.
“Listen Up!”, released on 20 February this year through Pure Noise Records, produced by Steve Evetts and mixed by Neal Avron, is New Found Glory’s last album with him. He’s survived by his wife, his five-year-old daughter, his mother Jackie, and his brother Brian.
Text by Marçal Bonastre