“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 statement read.
“We are devastated and shocked by how quickly he left us, yet so grateful for how peacefully and smoothly he went.”
For fans who had followed Gilbert’s health journey, the news was especially painful.
The musician had been remarkably open about his cancer battle, sharing updates from hospitals and treatment while continuing to create music whenever his health allowed.
Although the family’s announcement did not specify an official cause of death, Gilbert had publicly discussed undergoing treatment for adrenal cancer since 2021.
Earlier this year, he spoke to People about living with Stage 4 adrenocortical carcinoma, a rare cancer affecting the adrenal cortex.
His wife, Lisa, also discussed the frightening prognosis they had faced.
According to her, they had once been told Gilbert’s condition could leave him with “a much shorter lifespan than he’s already lived.”
The prognosis they were given was devastating.
“Six months to a year,” Lisa recalled.
But then she added something remarkable.
“And we’re five years out.”
Those additional years became precious time for Gilbert and his family.
Even as treatment, hospital stays and uncertainty became part of his life, Gilbert refused to allow cancer to completely separate him from the things he loved.
He continued communicating with fans.
He continued spending time with his family.
And he continued making music.
For Gilbert, music had been part of his identity since he was a teenager.
Born March 9, 1981, in Coral Springs, Florida, he was only 16 when he helped form New Found Glory.
Few could have imagined at the time that the group would eventually become one of the defining bands of the pop-punk movement.
New Found Glory released its debut studio album, Nothing Gold Can Stay, in 1999.
The band’s energetic combination of punk guitars, enormous choruses and emotionally direct songwriting quickly helped build a loyal audience.
As pop-punk exploded into the mainstream during the early 2000s, New Found Glory became one of the genre’s most recognizable names.
Songs including “My Friends Over You” became fan favorites, while later tracks such as “Vicious Love,” “Ready and Willing” and “Stay Awhile” helped the band maintain its audience across generations.
Gilbert’s guitar playing became an essential part of that sound.
But his influence went far beyond playing riffs onstage.
He was also a songwriter and creative force whose ideas helped shape the band’s identity for nearly three decades.
“Chad’s guitar playing, songwriting, humor, and relentless drive helped shape New Found Glory for nearly three decades,” the band said following his death.
“Through more than a dozen albums, endless tours around the world, and more accolades than we ever could have imagined, Chad challenged all of us to grow as musicians, performers, and human beings.”
Alongside Jordan Pundik, Ian Grushka and Cyrus Bolooki, Gilbert helped turn what began as a group of teenagers making music in Florida into an internationally known band.
There were albums.
World tours.
Packed venues.
Generations of fans.
And countless younger bands influenced by the sound New Found Glory helped popularize.
Remarkably, Gilbert remained involved in music even as his health became increasingly difficult.
New Found Glory released Listen Up! earlier this year, adding another chapter to a career that began when Gilbert was still in high school.
The band had also continued touring in recent months.
Following his death, questions naturally emerged about upcoming performances, though the immediate focus remained on Gilbert’s family and bandmates as they processed the loss.
Tributes quickly began appearing throughout the rock and pop-punk communities.
Members of bands that had shared stages, tours and decades of music with New Found Glory remembered Gilbert not simply as an influential guitarist but as someone who faced an extraordinarily difficult illness with determination.
The Offspring and Good Charlotte were among those paying tribute, as was blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.
Dashboard Confessional shared an especially emotional message.
“I’ve never seen anyone carry themselves through something like this with such positivity and strength,” the tribute read.
“What an example to us all. I’ll miss you so much Chad. RIP.”
For longtime fans, those messages reflected how far Gilbert’s influence extended.
New Found Glory emerged from the same broad scene that produced many of the bands that would eventually define early-2000s alternative music.
But the band’s longevity distinguished it.
Musical trends changed.
The industry changed.
The members grew older.
Their audience grew older with them.
Yet Gilbert continued stepping onto stages with a guitar in his hands.
His cancer diagnosis eventually introduced an entirely different challenge.
Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare cancer that develops in the outer layer of the adrenal glands. Advanced cases can be particularly difficult to treat, and Gilbert’s Stage 4 diagnosis meant he and his family were living with profound uncertainty.
Instead of completely disappearing from public view, Gilbert allowed fans to see parts of that experience.
He shared updates about hospital visits and treatment.
There were difficult days.
There was fear.
But there was also music.
And behind everything was his family.
For all the albums, tours and accomplishments attached to Gilbert’s name, the statement announcing his death emphasized that the achievements he treasured most weren’t hanging on a wall or printed on an album cover.
“He was a legendary musician, but his favorite accomplishment was being a husband and father,” the statement read.
“His biggest dreams came true.”
Gilbert is survived by his wife, Lisa, their daughter Lily, his mother Jackie and his brother Brian.
The image his family shared of his final moments was both heartbreaking and peaceful.
After years of treatment, hospital visits and uncertainty, Gilbert was not alone.
His wife was there.
His mother was there.
Friends and family surrounded him.
And according to those closest to him, that was exactly how he wanted it.
For New Found Glory fans, Gilbert’s death closes a chapter that began almost three decades ago when a 16-year-old guitarist helped start a band in Florida.
He could not have known where that decision would lead.
More than a dozen albums.
Years on the road.
Songs that became part of people’s adolescence.
Friendships forged across an entire music scene.
And a band whose influence stretched far beyond its original hometown.
Cancer ultimately changed the course of Gilbert’s life, but it did not erase the music.
He continued creating for as long as he could.
And in the end, the people closest to him made clear that despite everything he accomplished professionally, Gilbert measured his life differently.
He was proud of the musician he became.
But being Lisa’s husband and Lily’s father was the dream that mattered most.
Chad Gilbert was 45.