Chad Gilbertguitarist and founding member of New Found Gloryhas died at the age of forty-five after several years fighting cancer.
Gilbert had been diagnosed with cancer for the first time in 2021 and last March he made public that he was fighting brain cancer. The news of his death was confirmed this past Sunday through a joint statement from the band and his wife, Lisa Cimorelli.
According to his family, the musician died in his sleep and accompanied by his loved ones. «He left this world surrounded by friends and family and breathed his last with his wife and mother by his side, just as he wanted. “We are devastated and surprised by how quickly he left us, but at the same time grateful that he left in such a peaceful way,” the statement read.
Born in Florida in 1981, Gilbert was a fundamental piece of New Found Glory since the group’s formation in 1997 and contributed decisively to defining the sound that would make them one of the great references of pop punk in the last three decades since their debut “Nothing Gold Can Stay”(1999) until “Listen Up!”published at the beginning of this year. It was with ““Sticks and Stones” (02), with the single “My Friends Over You”, and with“Catalyst”(2004), both in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, when New Found Glory reached its greatest projection, becoming one of the fundamental pop-punk bands of the early 2000s.
Beyond the group, Gilbert sang in the hardcore band Shai Hulud between 1995 and 1998, and again between 2012 and 2013, in addition to leading the parallel project International Superheroes of Hardcore and launch the project What’s Eating Gilbert. He also worked as a producer on several other people’s albums throughout his career.
