Chad Gilbert, the founding guitarist and longtime creative force behind pop-punk band New Found Glory, has died after a years-long battle with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He was 45.

Gilbert died peacefully in his sleep on the morning of Sept. 20, surrounded by loved ones, according to a statement shared by his family and bandmates.

His wife, singer Lisa Cimorelli, and his mother were beside him during his final moments.

Those closest to Gilbert said his decline happened faster than they expected, leaving his family, friends and bandmates devastated even after years of living alongside the uncertainty of cancer.

His death came only three months after an emotional return to the stage in Nashville, where Gilbert performed with New Found Glory despite significant physical limitations following emergency brain surgery.

For fans, that performance now stands as one of the final public chapters in a career that helped shape modern pop-punk.

A Cancer Battle That Began With a Medical Emergency

Gilbert’s cancer journey began unexpectedly in December 2021.

His wife found him unresponsive in bed after he had experienced several days of unusual symptoms, including severe sweating.

His blood sugar had fallen to a dangerously low level, and emergency responders rushed him to the hospital.

Doctors eventually discovered a rare tumor involving his adrenal gland.

Gilbert was initially diagnosed with pheochromocytoma, an uncommon tumor capable of affecting hormone production and blood pressure.

Scans showed the malignant growth had extended from his adrenal gland toward his liver.

He underwent major surgery that month, during which doctors removed the tumor along with part of his liver, his gallbladder and one adrenal gland.

Weeks later, Gilbert announced that his scans were clear.

But the relief did not last.

The Cancer Returned

In 2022, Gilbert revealed that another tumor had been discovered in his spine.

Doctors removed most of the growth from his T12 vertebra, and he underwent radiation treatment.

Small nodules were also discovered in his lungs.

Gilbert remained remarkably open about his treatment, regularly sharing updates with fans while continuing to write, record and perform whenever his health allowed.

Over the following years, he underwent additional radiation and treatment as doctors attempted to control new areas of disease.

Even when cancer returned, Gilbert often emphasized gratitude rather than fear.

He encouraged people facing serious illness to appreciate ordinary moments and avoid allowing uncertainty to consume whatever time they still had.

That attitude became increasingly central to the way he spoke about both his illness and his life.

Three Brain Tumors Changed Everything in February

One of Gilbert’s most serious setbacks came in February 2026.

While performing in Nashville on Feb. 20 during celebrations surrounding New Found Glory’s latest album, Gilbert noticed that he was struggling to control his left hand.

His condition worsened over the following days.

His left leg became increasingly weak, and he began stumbling and falling.

On Feb. 23, doctors performed a CT scan and discovered three tumors in his brain.

Emergency surgery followed on Feb. 27.

Gilbert later said he began regaining movement in his left hand quickly after the operation, giving him hope that he could recover enough to continue making music.

Further medical evaluation also changed doctors’ understanding of his cancer.

His illness was ultimately characterized as stage 4 adrenocortical carcinoma, or ACC, an aggressive cancer originating in the adrenal cortex.

Family Became His Greatest Source of Gratitude

As his prognosis became more serious, Gilbert increasingly spoke about what mattered most to him.

It was not record sales.

It was not touring.

It was his family.

Gilbert married Lisa Cimorelli in 2020. The couple later welcomed their daughter, Lily.

During an interview earlier this year, Gilbert reflected on the life he had built despite everything happening medically.

He said he had already achieved the things he had dreamed about: a music career he loved and a family of his own.

Rather than defining his final years exclusively through cancer, he repeatedly emphasized how fortunate he felt to have his wife and daughter beside him.

Lily was four when Gilbert underwent emergency brain surgery earlier this year.

His June Return to the Stage Became a Powerful Final Memory

Just months after that surgery, Gilbert accomplished something few expected so soon.

On June 8, he joined New Found Glory onstage again in Nashville.

His mobility remained limited, so he performed from a motorized scooter.

But he was there.

Gilbert played two of the band’s best-known songs, “Hit or Miss” and “My Friends Over You.”

The performance carried special meaning for another reason: it was the first time his young daughter had seen him perform with New Found Glory.

Afterward, Gilbert described the experience with enormous gratitude.

He thanked his family, medical team, bandmates and supporters who had helped him reach the stage again.

Only three months later, he would be gone.

Nearly Three Decades With New Found Glory

Gilbert helped form New Found Glory in Coral Springs, Florida, in 1997.

Alongside Jordan Pundik, Ian Grushka and Cyrus Bolooki, he became part of a band that would eventually emerge as one of the defining acts of the pop-punk explosion of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Gilbert’s heavy, melodic guitar style helped distinguish the group from many of its peers.

Albums including Nothing Gold Can Stay, New Found Glory, Sticks and Stones and Catalyst produced songs that became fixtures of the genre.

Tracks such as “Hit or Miss,” “Dressed to Kill,” “Head on Collision” and “My Friends Over You” introduced the band to generations of listeners.

Gilbert was also deeply involved in songwriting and production.

Outside New Found Glory, he had roots in hardcore music and previously performed with Shai Hulud. He also created music through his solo project What’s Eating Gilbert and worked as a producer for other artists.

His Final Album Reflected the Life He Was Living

New Found Glory released Listen Up! in February 2026.

The album was shaped in part by Gilbert’s health battle and the perspective that came from living with metastatic cancer.

Themes of resilience, gratitude and making meaningful use of limited time ran through the record.

Gilbert was experiencing worsening neurological symptoms during the album’s Nashville release show — symptoms that would lead to the discovery of his brain tumors only days later.

Even after surgery, however, he continued writing and talking about music.

For Gilbert, illness had changed the way he approached life, but it had not erased his identity as a musician.

Bandmates Say Goodbye to a Brother

New Found Glory’s surviving members described Gilbert’s death as both shocking and peaceful.

They said they were devastated by how quickly his final decline occurred but grateful that he was surrounded by family and friends.

For nearly 30 years, they had shared recording studios, vans, buses, stages and countless tours.

Their relationship extended beyond being members of the same band.

They had essentially grown up together.

Gilbert’s death now leaves an enormous absence in a group whose core lineup remained unusually stable across decades.

More Than the Cancer He Fought

Gilbert spent the final five years of his life undergoing surgeries, scans, radiation treatments and repeated rounds of difficult medical news.

But he consistently resisted allowing cancer to become his entire identity.

He kept recording.

He kept writing.

When possible, he toured.

After brain surgery, he found a way back onto a stage even when he could not stand and perform in the way he once had.

And throughout those years, he repeatedly returned to the same source of happiness: his family.

Gilbert is survived by his wife Lisa, their daughter Lily, his mother and his brother.

For longtime New Found Glory listeners, his legacy will live through nearly three decades of music that helped define an era of pop-punk.

For the people closest to him, however, the musician remembered for massive guitar riffs and energetic concerts was also a husband, father, son and friend.

Months before his death, while confronting an increasingly aggressive cancer, Gilbert reflected on everything life had given him.

He believed he had already gotten his dream.

And in June, with his daughter watching from the crowd, he managed to stand — figuratively, if not physically — alongside his band one more time.