It’s the legendary feud that broke the hearts of millions of music fans.
And now Silverchair’s Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou have revealed that it was substances, including alcohol, which led to the end of their friendship with frontman Daniel Johns and the breakup of the band.
The trio of school pals formed the group as teenagers and had a stunning rise to fame in the 1990s before splitting in 2011.
Since then Johns, 44, has been estranged from drummer Gilles, 43, and bassist Joannou, 43, who have just published a tell-all book about the Silverchair breakup titled Love & Pain.
Appearing on The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Wednesday, Gilles and Joannou were asked about the moment they knew when Silverchair was over.
Silverchair’s Ben Gillies (right) and Chris Joannou (centre) have said that it was substances, including alcohol, which led to the end of their friendship with frontman Daniel Johns and the break up of the band (pictured at left)
The trio of school pals formed the band as teenagers and had a stunning rise to fame in the 1990s before finally splitting in 2011. Pictured: Silverchair in their 90s heyday
Joannou said things were ‘rocky’ and ‘unstable’ at the time.
Gillies added: ‘I think it had a lot to do with bad communication between three men who did not know how to communicate very well.
‘And substances, drinking had a lot to do with it… it was all very messy.’
Earlier in the interview, Gillies confessed his own troubles with alcohol had turned him into a***hole, which put his marriage at risk.
Elsewhere in the chat, host Kyle Sandilands asked the pair whether it would ever be possible to patch up their friendship with Johns, who has been known to be highly critical of his former bandmates.
‘Everyone’s moving forward on a different path,’ replied Joannou.
‘I think we all on pretty different trajectories and just need to appreciate that.’
Since then Johns, 44, has been estranged from drummer Gilles, 43, and bassist Joannou, 43, who have just published a tell-all book about the Silverchair breakup titled Love & Pain
Gilles told listeners the three members of Silverchair were bad communicators. Pictured: The tell-all memoir that Gillies wrote with band mate Joannou
It comes after Johns ripped into Gillies and Joannou during an appearance on The Project in September 2022, where he labelled his estranged friends as ‘bitter, jealous, angry’.
He singled out Gillies, saying that the drummer had a ‘real problem’ with his fame, and claimed that both of his former bandmates ‘never come and see him’.
Neither Gillies nor Joannou responded at the time.
Formed in the NSW coastal city of Newcastle in 1992, Silverchair made headlines with their first album Frogstomp in 1995 and went on to sell 10million records worldwide.
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