The genre of pop-punk has lost one of its most influential and most-loved songwriters.
Chad Gilbert — the lead guitarist and primary songwriter — of the pop-punk New Found Glory passed away from a long but well-fought battle with cancer Sunday.
My first New Found Glory show was at the Town Ballroom in September 2022.
Planned at the last second, the show was one out of the three additional dates that was celebrating the 20th anniversary of their seminal 2002 album, “Sticks and Stones.” Not only did they play “Sticks and Stones,” they preceded it with their 2000 self-titled album.
My favorite band was playing two of my favorite albums. It was a no-brainer that I was going to be there.
By 2006, New Found Glory cemented themselves on the pop-punk Mount Rushmore when record database AllMusic credited them as “practically serving alongside the work of blink-182 as the blueprint to the entire genre for the early 2000s.” The band catalyzed a revolution: the name of rock band “All Time Low” is from a New Found Glory song lyric; several groups such as Fall Out Boy and Knuckle Puck cited it as a major influence; the “easycore” pop-punk subgenre was highly pioneered by them.
The band hit mainstream when they rocketed up to No. 4 on the Billboard 200, playing the likes of Jay Leno, and being the first band to ever play outdoors on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in the debut week of the show. The lead single “My Friends Over You” has been their anthem since, and is a song bound to be played at any Emo Nite in 2026. British music magazine Kerrang! ranked “Sticks and Stones” the third spot on their “51 greatest pop-punk albums of all time.
Mark Hoppus, the bassist and vocalist of rock band “blink-182,” told Alternative Press during the band’s rise that New Found Glory had “something different and unique.”
“I was really drawn to their melodies, and their guitar parts were more interesting and more creative than a lot of the stuff that was going on," Hoppus said.
The summer after I graduated from high school, New Found Glory played at Darien Lake with The All-American Rejects, The Starting Line and The Get-Up Kids.
That was also one of the best days of my life.
I made the mistake of selecting the VIP option for The All-American Rejects instead of New Found Glory at that show. No disrespect for the All-American Rejects who I have an immense gratitude for, but I missed my one chance of ever meeting Gilbert then, and thanking him for everything.
I regret that deeply to this day.
Chad Gilbert, I never met you, but my life has been considerably made better by your music, and my world is now considerably bleaker without you in it.
In the coming weeks and months, I expect to hear lots of tributes being posted online, and countless people getting New Found Glory tattoos, and posting them. Gilbert’s legacy will continue, and the whole collective “scene” will ensure that.
My heart breaks for his wife Lisa Cimorelli, his six-year old daughter Lily, his brother Brian and his mother Jackie.
To Jordan Pundik, Ian Grushka, Cyrus Bolooki and everyone else in the New Found Glory’s extended family, I know you will continue to make him proud and I can’t emphasize the heartbreak that you must be feeling.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being the soundtrack to my life these past eight years.
If you want something new to listen to, just play New Found Glory’s “Sticks and Stones” album or their greatest hits album.
It’s hard not to like them. Just listen to this lyric: “There must be so many ways to say goodbye, but I can’t seem to think of one this time.”
Jacob Wojtowicz is the senior features editor and can be reached at jacob.wojtowicz@ubspectrum.com.
Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
