THE NEWS
Chad Gilbert wrote the riffs a whole generation of kids learned first — "Hit or Miss," "My Friends Over You," "All Downhill From Here" *†††. He died the morning of Sept. 20, 2026 at 45, after roughly five years with cancer, in his sleep with his wife and mother beside him ‡¶. He leaves behind wife Lisa, daughter Lily, mother Jackie and brother Brian †‡.
THE LEGACY
- Co-founded New Found Glory in Florida in 1997 at age 17, and played on every album from 1999's debut through 2026's *Listen Up!* ‡‡¶¶
- *Sticks and Stones* (2002) went platinum and carried "My Friends Over You"; *Catalyst* (2004) was the band's highest-charting record *†††††
- Fronted hardcore band Shai Hulud as a teenager, then returned for 2013's *Reach Beyond the Sun* ††††
- Produced A Day To Remember's *Homesick*, H2O's *Nothing to Prove*, State Champs' *The Finer Things* and Trapped Under Ice's *Big Kiss Goodnight* †¶
- Tracked guitar for *Listen Up!* while on chemotherapy, after three brain tumors kept him off the road ††‡‡
- Mark Hoppus: "Chad was the best friend to every person he met." ‡‡ Jordan Pundik: "My brother, my best friend." *
WHY IT MATTERS
Gilbert is the reason the hardcore kids and the pop-punk kids ever ended up in the same room — he brought breakdowns to TRL and Warped Tour and never pretended the two worlds were separate §†††. Whatever any list says, his actual place in this music is the guitar part you already know by heart.