Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns shares personal update on 46th birthday

Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns has given fans a life update in a cryptic message shared on his 46th birthday.

Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns has announced he is taking a break from social media.

The Aussie rocker shared the update on Tuesday, which also happened to be his 46th birthday.

“The beautiful thing about time, is that it is always in the eye of the beholder. Art is exactly the same,” he began his Instagram post, which was accompanied with a photo of himself and his dog.

“As an artist you never know what time it is. It’s an ongoing quest to interpret happiness and sadness with a sprinkling of absurdity. It’s drama. It’s comedy. It’s poetry. It’s a song. It’s cinema.

“Everything is beautiful if you let it be.”

Daniel Johns shared this photo to announce he was taking a break from social media. Picture: Instagram

In his cryptic message, Johns implied that he would use his hiatus to reflect and perhaps to work on an ongoing project.

“I have to go back in time to finalise something and as a result I won’t be on socials, my team will keep an eye on things. I will have my phone,” he concluded. “All is love xx.”

Johns rose to fame with his Silverchair bandmates, bassist Chris Joannou and drummer Ben Gillies, in the 90s. They were all just 15 and playing local band competitions in Newcastle when they signed a record deal with the Sony imprint called Murmur.

They were the first Australian act to go straight to No.1 with a debut single, Tomorrow, and album Frogstomp.

The band celebrated the 30th anniversary of their debut album at a special event at the Metro in Sydney last month, but Johns – who is estranged from his bandmates – was absent from the celebrations.

This isn’t the first time Johns has taken a hiatus from social media. Back in October 2023, he announced he was shutting off his socials to focus on work projects and “smelling the roses”.

The Newcastle-born singer told fans in a lengthy Instagram post that he’s “notoriously bad at stopping” to appreciate life’s moments.

The Silverchair frontman’s hiatus began on Tuesday, his 46th birthday. Picture: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

In 2023, Johns also announced he was “shutting socials down”. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

With two months left of that year, Johns said he’d be putting his phone “in a drawer” to finish working on the orchestration for his semi-autobiographical short film, What If The Future Never Happened?, which at the time coincided with his 2022 solo album, FutureNever.

“I’m notoriously bad at stopping and smelling the roses so I’m putting this [post] here to remind myself,” Johns began in his post at the time.

“This will be my final post for 2023 so I can go away to work on finishing orchestration and credit sequence for ‘What If The Future Never Happened?’. I’m shutting my socials down, putting my phone in a drawer and getting back to work.”

Johns shot to fame with Silverchair bandmates Chris Joannou and Ben Gillies. Picture: Tony Mott

Silverchair took an indefinite hiatus in 2011. Picture: Martin Philbey/Redferns

In early 2023, he also revealed that he was never a fan of social media as it at times got “overwhelming”.

“As someone who never really did technology, I love the chance to chat to people on here about things we are passionate about, music, animals, films, art etc,” he wrote in a candid Instagram post in April 2023.

“At some points though, the socials stuff can be a bit overwhelming as I’m sure it is for many of you.”

“I’m taking a little break, working on some health stuff, some charity work, getting out of the house a little bit... I’ll definitely pop back up on here when/if I have something interesting to say or more importantly with any more dog pics.

“Wherever you are in the world, if you’re reading this I love you and appreciate you more than you know.”

Originally published as Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns shares personal update on 46th birthday