Chad Gilbert, founding guitarist, songwriter and one of the driving creative forces behind pop-punk legends NEW FOUND GLORY, passed away on Sunday, 20 September 2026, aged just 45, following a years-long battle with cancer.
There are some pieces of music news that are difficult to write.
This is one of them.
Chad Everett Gilbert died peacefully in his sleep on Sunday, 20 September 2026, surrounded by friends and family. His wife, Lisa Cimorelli, and his mother were beside him during his final moments.
For almost three decades, Gilbert’s guitar playing, songwriting and relentless creative energy helped define the sound of NEW FOUND GLORY — and, in the process, helped shape an entire generation of pop-punk.
He was only 45.
🖤 Sunday, 20 September 2026
The date will now carry a painful significance for NEW FOUND GLORY fans around the world.
Chad Gilbert passed away on Sunday, 20 September 2026.
After years of treatment, surgeries and an extraordinarily difficult battle with cancer, Gilbert died peacefully in his sleep with loved ones close by.
He leaves behind his wife Lisa, their young daughter Lily, his mother Jackie, his brother Brian, his NEW FOUND GLORY bandmates and an enormous extended family of friends, musicians and fans.
🎸 Chad Gilbert Helped Create NEW FOUND GLORY
Gilbert wasn’t somebody who joined NEW FOUND GLORY after the success arrived.
He helped build it.
The band formed in South Florida in 1997, when its members were still remarkably young.
Alongside vocalist Jordan Pundik, bassist Ian Grushka and the musicians who would complete the band’s classic lineup, Gilbert helped develop a sound combining the infectious hooks of pop-punk with the physical punch and attitude of hardcore.
That combination became enormously influential.
NEW FOUND GLORY could deliver massive melodies one second and hit you with a chunky hardcore-inspired breakdown the next.
Chad’s guitar was right at the heart of it.
💿 From New Found Glory To Sticks And Stones
The band’s self-titled 2000 album helped push NEW FOUND GLORY towards a much larger audience, with tracks including “Hit Or Miss” becoming staples of the emerging pop-punk explosion.
Then came Sticks And Stones in 2002.
And with it:
“My Friends Over You.”
That riff.
That chorus.
That music video.
For countless fans, NEW FOUND GLORY became part of the soundtrack to growing up.
School.
College.
First gigs.
First relationships.
Break-ups.
Road trips.
Warped Tour.
Terrible haircuts.
Questionable fashion choices.
And burned CDs covered in permanent-marker handwriting.
Chad Gilbert helped create those memories.
🔥 His Influence Went Far Beyond One Band
Gilbert’s musical impact extended beyond NEW FOUND GLORY.
His hardcore roots included time with Shai Hulud, while he later explored different musical territory through What’s Eating Gilbert.
He also became an accomplished producer, helping other artists develop their own music.
Meanwhile, NEW FOUND GLORY’s combination of pop-punk hooks and hardcore heaviness helped influence generations of bands and contributed significantly to the style eventually widely described as easycore.
You can hear Chad’s musical fingerprints all over the alternative scene that followed.
🩺 A Long And Difficult Cancer Battle
Behind the music, Gilbert had faced serious health problems for several years.
His cancer journey began in 2021, when doctors discovered a rare tumour.
What followed included major surgeries, treatment, periods of recovery and further devastating setbacks.
Gilbert shared parts of that journey publicly with fans, providing updates while continuing to make music whenever his health allowed.
Then, in early 2026, his condition became considerably more serious.
🧠 Three Brain Tumours Were Discovered
After becoming unwell following a performance in Nashville in February 2026, Gilbert was taken to hospital.
Doctors discovered three tumours in his brain.
He subsequently underwent emergency brain surgery on 27 February 2026.
It was another enormous challenge in a health battle that had already demanded an extraordinary amount from him.
Yet Gilbert continued fighting.
And remarkably, he managed to return to doing what he loved.
Playing music.
🎸 He Made It Back Onto The Stage
One of the most powerful images from Chad’s final year was seeing him perform again following brain surgery.
The circumstances were obviously different.
Nobody could pretend otherwise.
But there he was.
With NEW FOUND GLORY.
Guitar in hand.
Back alongside the musicians with whom he had spent almost his entire adult life.
Knowing now that Sunday, 20 September 2026 would ultimately become the final date in Chad’s life makes those appearances even more poignant.
❤️ Husband And Father Above Everything Else
Chad Gilbert achieved more musically than most teenagers picking up their first guitar could ever imagine.
Successful albums.
International tours.
Festival stages.
Influential songs.
Production work.
Nearly three decades with one of pop-punk’s defining bands.
But those closest to him have made something very clear.
His greatest source of pride was his family.
His wife, Lisa.
His daughter, Lily.
For fans, Chad Gilbert will forever be the guitarist from NEW FOUND GLORY.
For them, he was something infinitely more important.
A husband.
A father.
Family.
🎶 His Music Isn’t Going Anywhere
There is something uniquely powerful about recorded music.
People leave.
The songs don’t.
Put on “Hit Or Miss.”
Play “Head On Collision.”
Turn up “All Downhill From Here.”
Then stick on “My Friends Over You.”
Chad is still there.
Every riff.
Every chord.
Every breakdown.
Every enormous chorus those guitars helped lift into the air.
And somewhere right now, another young guitarist will hear one of those songs for the first time and decide they want to learn how to play it.
That’s a legacy.
🕯️ 45 Is Far Too Young
There’s no clever way around it.
Forty-five is far too young.
Gilbert packed an extraordinary amount into those years, but there should have been more.
More music.
More touring.
More laughs with his bandmates.
More time with his friends.
Most importantly, more time with his wife and daughter.
Cancer took that time away.
And that’s heartbreaking.
🤘 THE RIFF REPORT VERDICT
Sunday, 20 September 2026.
A date that will now forever form part of NEW FOUND GLORY’s story.
Chad Gilbert helped define the band’s sound for almost three decades and, in doing so, influenced an entire branch of modern alternative music.
He brought hardcore weight into pop-punk.
He wrote riffs that millions of people recognise within seconds.
He produced and encouraged other musicians.
He helped create songs that became attached to some of the biggest moments in people’s lives.
But today isn’t really about record sales, genres or musical influence.
It’s about a family grieving someone they loved.
A wife who has lost her husband.
A daughter who has lost her dad.
Friends who have lost someone irreplaceable.
And NEW FOUND GLORY losing a man who had stood beside them since they were kids chasing the ridiculous dream of starting a band.
From everyone at The Riff Report Blog, our deepest condolences go to Lisa, Lily, Chad’s family, his NEW FOUND GLORY bandmates, friends and everyone whose life he touched.
Tonight, put on a NEW FOUND GLORY record.
Turn it up.
Remember the riffs.
Remember the songs.
And remember the man who helped create them.
Rest in peace, Chad Gilbert.
Sunday, 20 September 2026.
1981–2026. 🖤🎸🤘
