Silverchair’s Daniel Johns says ‘extraordinary’ Kanye West raises good points about mental illness 

Daniel Johns has found an ally in Kanye West.

The 43-year-old rock star said in his docuseries the American rapper makes great points about mental illness. 

Daniel was asked by Inside the Mind of Daniel Johns host Megan Holiday what he thought about Kanye citing Silverchair’s music as an influence.

The Freak hit-maker laughed and said he ‘couldn’t believe it’ when told the rapper was a fan of his music because he thinks Kanye is ‘extraordinary’.

Daniel said he completely agreed with some of the comments Kanye has made about living with a mental illness.

‘Kanye said something like, “Sometimes the way people treat mental health is similar to if you got an Olympic sprinter with a broken ankle and forced him to run.” And he said it right at a time where I was feeling that,’ Daniel explained.

He added Kanye was one of the ‘culturally relevant artists’ of our lifetime and called him ‘extraordinary’.

Daniel said he ‘couldn’t believe it’ when told the rapper was a fan of his music because he thinks Kanye is ‘extraordinary’ 

Kanye’s comments about mental illness may have resonated with Daniel who went through a public struggle with anorexia and anxiety in the late 90s.

Daniel fronted rock band Silverchair from 1992 – 2011 and sold millions of albums around the world.

However, he recently said he is not close to his former bandmates Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou, with both declining to play on his recently released solo album. 

Kanye’s comments about mental illness may have resonated with Daniel who went through a public struggle with anorexia and anxiety in the late 90s 

He also recently opened up about the sorrow he felt after a song from Silverchair’s first album supposedly influenced a notorious triple-murder in America. 

In 1995, a 16-year-old boy from Washington, D.C., and his friend killed his parents and brother in a crime that shocked the capital.

When the police arrived to arrest the teenagers, the pair were allegedly playing the song Israel’s Son, from Silverchair’s debut album Frogstomp, which features the lyrics: ‘Hate is what I feel for you/I want you to know that I want you dead’.

He said during an episode of his docuseries: ‘It’s pretty devastating to write a song when you’re a teenager and then have someone’s lives taken because apparently it influenced the people to murder someone.’ 

Daniel fronted rock band Silverchair from 1992 – 2011 and the band sold millions of albums around the world. Pictured with former bandmates Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou