Chad Gilbert, the lead guitarist and one of the founding members of pop-punk band New Found Glory, has died. He was 45.
Gilbert died Sunday morning “peacefully in his sleep,” the band and his wife, Lisa Cimorelli, announced on social media. No cause of death was given, but the musician had been open about his cancer battle for the last five years.
“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 wished,” the joint statement posted Sunday to Instagram read. “We are devastated and shocked by how quickly he left us, yet so grateful for how peacefully and smoothly he went. The amount of visitors that crowded the hospital lobby at a moment’s notice is a testament to how beloved and cherished Chad was, and always will be.”
Gilbert had just celebrated his return to the stage in June after emergency surgery earlier this year to remove a brain tumor.
“It felt good to know that there’s still a battle to be going on and that I can recover from this and grow stronger from this,” Gilbert told Rolling Stone in April. “My hope is to really get my energy and strength back. I don’t want to lay in bed all day. I want to be able to get up and do my things.”
While he said that he was no longer able to tour normally anymore, his goal then was to be able to perform at New Found Glory’s June show in Nashville.
“I got to play a show in front of my daughter, something I truly never thought I’d get to do again,” Gilbert wrote in an Instagram post following that performance. “It was very emotional getting up on stage with my band again to play.”
Born March 9, 1981, in Coral Springs, Fla., Gilbert helped form New Found Glory in 1997 with lead vocalist Jordan Pundik, guitarist Steve Klein, bassist Ian Grushka and drummer Joe Marino (who was quickly replaced by Cyrus Bolooki). The band was among those that helped define the second-wave pop-punk sound of the late 1990s and early 2000s that broke into the mainstream.
“[Gilbert] was a legendary musician, but his favorite accomplishment was being a husband and father,” Cimorelli and New Found Glory’s Instagram statement said. “His biggest dream came true.”
He is survived by his wife, daughter Lily, mother Jackie and brother Brian.
This story will be updated.
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