On the day that New Found Glory their twelfth album “Listen Up!” released, Chad Gilbert’s hand stopped working. The lead guitarist stood on stage at the band’s album release party at Nashville club The End, playing the same chords he’d memorized over the past 30 years – but his fingers no longer obeyed him the way he wanted them to. And it wasn’t just his hands. Gilbert also had trouble controlling the entire left side of his body.
That February evening, he had vomited in the dressing room trash can just before taking the stage, and his bandmates had to carry him to the chair from which he played the show. After battling rare adrenal cancer for five years, Gilbert knew all the possible side effects that treatments and medications could bring. But the fact that he could no longer move his body or play the guitar was something he had never experienced before.
“The show was great, but something wasn’t right,” Gilbert, 45, tells ROLLING STONE via Zoom. He sits in bed at his home near Nashville, wearing a navy green “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” graphic T-shirt and a black baseball cap. Gilbert’s voice is rough and sometimes shaky, but other than the winter glove on his left hand, you wouldn’t know that it’s only been a week since he returned home after a monthly hospital stay.
The fall after the show
“That night I came home and went up the stairs – and fell forward onto the floor,” remembers Gilbert of the evening of the album release show. He spent the following weekend in bed and increasingly lost control of the left side of his body.
“Our doctor contacted the brain and spine radiologist and he said, ‘Take him to the emergency room immediately,'” said Lisa Cimorelli, Gilbert’s wife. During our conversation, she sits next to him on the bed and helps the punk rocker fill in the gaps in his memory from the past few weeks. “The next morning they had found three new tumors,” she says. “One of them was the size of a walnut and was pressing on the back right side of the brain, causing the loss of movement on the left side.”
Gilbert informed the public about the three new brain tumors and the subsequent surgery to remove one of them when he detailed his recent cancer story in a lengthy Instagram post on March 23. He was released from the hospital a few days later. Since his original diagnosis of metastatic pheochromocytoma of the liver in 2021 – which later developed into adrenocortical carcinoma and spread to various parts of the body – the musician has publicly shared every step of his arduous journey. But even his words and the pictures from the intensive care unit hardly describe the rollercoaster month he endured with the brain tumors – and certainly not the incredible resilience that Gilbert always shows in the face of it all. “I feel very, very lucky to be able to sit here and do this interview,” he says.
Setback after the operation
A day after surgery to remove the brain tumor, Gilbert’s condition had improved. Sisters who had become friends with the musician and his wife sent Cimorelli videos of Gilbert waving his left hand. “It was incredible,” says Cimorelli. Gilbert was about to be transferred from the intensive care unit to the rehabilitation ward when his condition worsened again.
“Around that point, all of a sudden it was like, ‘His sodium levels are plummeting,’” Cimorelli recalls. This is where she has to fill in most of the gaps, as Gilbert was barely conscious and has little memory of what happened.
“He started falling asleep again. All the progress we had just made seemed to evaporate,” she says. After an MRI and a CT scan, doctors discovered that fluid around the tumor was putting pressure on Gilbert’s brain, driving his sodium levels through the roof and significantly impairing cognitive function. “It was so difficult for him to stay awake or organize his thoughts,” Cimorelli says.
Hallucinations and radiation therapy
Even though Gilbert remembers little, the hallucinations he experienced remain with him. “At the hospital, they asked me what I wanted to eat. I thought I was in Japan and said, ‘Can I have Okinawaki?'” To combat this frightening new reality, Gilbert underwent 10 rounds of radiation to shrink the two remaining tumors in his brain. During the conversation, he repeatedly takes off his cap to scratch his forehead and scalp. “Sorry I keep scratching,” Gilbert says at one point, “I think I got some minor radiation burns.”
His current treatment plan revolves around ensuring that the immunotherapies he receives can penetrate the blood-brain barrier and keep the cancer at bay there too. He will continue these treatments, supplemented by a diabetes medication that he is the first patient in the world to use in ACC treatment. (Findings from Gilbert’s case will eventually be published in a medical journal.)
Despite the hellish month he’s just had, Gilbert remains steadfastly optimistic. “It was good to know that the fight isn’t over and that I can recover and come out stronger,” he says. “My hope is to really get my energy and strength back. I don’t want to lie in bed all day. I want to get up and do my thing,” he adds.
Tour and new destinations
New Found Glory will begin their tour with Yellowcard in May. “I’ll never be able to tour normally again,” admits Gilbert. “But I’ll be able to play shows nearby.” As Cimorelli confirms, one of his goals is to be strong enough to perform on this show – even if he has to sit down.
But Gilbert’s real driving force goes beyond the personal. “These difficult experiences, as hard as they are, have always been a place for me to inspire our fans,” he says. On “Listen Up!” The main songwriter of the NFG songs has been open about his experiences and how he finds strength in weak moments. Tracks like “100%” and “You Got This” pack these heavy feelings into even heavier riffs. Even in the hospital, Gilbert continued to write songs and asked Cimorelli, sisters and friends at his side to write down his ideas for him. “I’m always writing… there are always melodies in my head,” he says.
Beyond New Found Glory’s music, Gilbert’s unyielding attitude inspires his fans. “I have my moments when, like every person, I have to let go,” he says. “But I like that we can turn that into something positive… It’s always been about inspiring and building a community of people who want to come to our shows, smile and have a good time.”
