New Found Glory founding guitarist Chad Gilbert dies at 45

Chad Gilbert, founding guitarist of New Found Glory, died on the morning of Sept. 20, 2026, at age 45. Bandmates and his wife, Lisa Cimorelli, said he passed peacefully in his sleep and took his final breaths with his wife and mother by his side, just as he wished. They said they were devastated by how quickly he left, that visitors crowded the hospital lobby at a moment's notice, and that his favorite accomplishment was being a husband and father. Gilbert co-founded the band in Coral Springs, Florida, in 1997. He had been treated for cancer since 2021, when surgeons removed a large adrenal tumor, half his liver, and his gallbladder; the disease later hit his spine and lungs. After three brain tumors were found he had emergency surgery, then on June 8, 2026, played Hit or Miss and My Friends Over You in Nashville from a motorized scooter. The band said his guitar playing, songwriting, humor, and drive shaped nearly three decades of New Found Glory. CONTESTED: The Mirror and a wire summary place the brain surgery in March; PEOPLE and Yahoo place it in February after he collapsed at home. PEOPLE reported metastatic pheochromocytoma that changed after surgery to adrenocortical carcinoma; the Mirror called it rare adrenal cancer. The wire said he later performed in a wheelchair; PEOPLE described a motorized scooter.