Silverchair legend Daniel Johns has made more ARIA history, receiving the first-ever ARIA silver accreditation.
The most-awarded artist in ARIA history, the recognition was presented to Johns for his 2022 album FutureNever on stage at the world-first screening of Daniel Johns: What If The Future Never Happened?, part of the 2025 ARIA Awards Presents program.
Silver accreditation has been created for album releases by Australian artists who have achieved 20,000 units within three years of a title’s release date. The recognition is applicable to titles released from January 1st, 2021, only.
“The pursuit of writing a great album has always been my biggest inspiration. A collection of songs that is greater than the sum of its parts,” Johns said. “To have my second solo album FutureNever become the first ARIA-accredited silver album is such an honour and I hope this new accreditation encourages Australian artists of all genres to stay committed to their album releases.
“Music is not a collection of social-ready sound bites, heart and soul cannot be generated by machine learning, real emotion beats artificial intelligence every day of the week. Long live the Australian album because without it there’s no music, only noise.”
A trailblazer whose influence spans decades, the Silverchair legend has won 21 ARIA Awards and continues to push artistic boundaries through his solo work, collaborations and storytelling across film and music.
Directed by James Medlam, Johns’ sci-fi inspired short film Daniel Johns: What If The Future Never Happened? serves as a cinematic portal to the ’90s, following a teenage rockstar called Daniel on an ordinary day in regional Australia before his global conquest. Actor Rasmus King portrays the young Johns, while the narrative explores a chance interaction with a mysterious figure from the future. It has been directed by James Medlam.
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The featurette was shot in Newcastle on Awabakal land in 2022, though Johns held its release to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Silverchair’s debut album frogstomp. He is celebrating the release of the film with intimate conversation shows still to come in Newcastle, Brisbane, and Melbourne.
ARIA CEO, Annabelle Herd, who presented the accreditation to Johns, said: “Introducing silver accreditation is about recognising the strength and scale of local music in 2025, and Daniel Johns is the perfect artist to receive the first one.
“His career is proof of what happens when creativity, ambition and risk-taking meet the kind of connection that defines Australian music at its best.”
The film debuted as part of the 2025 ARIA Awards Presents program, which gives opportunities for aspiring artists and industry folk to celebrate Australia’s best established and up-and-coming talent. The program hopes to facilitate important conversations that will shape the future of Australian music, ahead of the 2025 ARIA Awards on November 19th at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.
