The group got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo competition conducted by SBS TV show Nomad and ABC radio station Triple J.

In 2003, following the release of Diorama the previous year, the band announced a hiatus, during which time members recorded with side projects the Dissociatives, the Mess Hall, and Tambalane.

[4] At "age 11 or 12", singer-guitarist Johns and drummer Gillies rapped over an electronic keyboard's demo button under their first band name, The Silly Men.

[8][9][10] They played numerous shows around the Hunter Region in their early teens; their repertoire included cover versions of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath.

[13] The band recorded demos of "Acid Rain", "Cicada", "Pure Massacre", and "Tomorrow" early in the year at Platinum Sound Studios.

[9][12] The competition was conducted by the SBS TV show Nomad and Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) alternative radio station Triple J.

[10] Silverchair's debut album, Frogstomp, was recorded in nine days, with production by Kevin Shirley (Lime Spiders, Peter Wells) and released in March 1995.

In September 1995, during Silverchair's tour in the United States, Johns was hit with a bottle of alcohol in Santa Monica, California while performing "Israel's Son" and the injury required half a dozen stitches near his left eyebrow.

Produced by Nick Launay (Birthday Party, Models, Midnight Oil) and released in February 1997,[11][22] the album reached number one in Australia and yielded three top-10 singles: "Freak", "Abuse Me", and "Cemetery".

[9] The US leg had the group playing with The Offspring and Red Hot Chili Peppers, while Silverchair's tour of UK and European had The Living End as the support act.

The group eventually signed with Atlantic Records for North and South America, and they formed their own label with Watson, Eleven: A Music Company (distributed by EMI), for Australia and Asia.

[53] Johns disavowed the compilation, saying, "We thought about putting out ads in the street press to make people aware that we weren't endorsing it, but that would have blown the whole thing out of proportion ...

"[43] In June 2001, Silverchair entered a studio in Sydney with producer David Bottrill (Tool, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson) to start work on their fourth album, Diorama.

[57][58] In order to complete the vision for Diorama, several other musicians contributed to the album, including Van Dyke Parks, who provided orchestral arrangements to "Tuna in the Brine", "Luv Your Life", and "Across the Night".

[63] Early in 2002, Johns was diagnosed with reactive arthritis, which made it difficult for him to play the guitar, and subsequent performances supporting the album's release were cancelled.

[78] The 2004 Boxing Day tsunami resulted in the WaveAid fundraising concert held in January 2005; Silverchair performed to help raise funds for aid organisations working in disaster-affected areas.

[69] In 2006, after five weeks' practice, the group demoed tracks in the Hunter Region before recording at Los Angeles' Seedy Underbelly Studios with Launay as producer.

[88][89] Support acts on the tour were John Butler, Missy Higgins, Kev Carmody, Troy Cassar-Daley, Clare Bowditch and Deborah Conway.

[67][92] According to Silverchair's website, as of June 2009, the group had begun work on the follow-up to Young Modern; they had spent three weeks recording in Australia with future sessions earmarked for later that year.

In December, Johns called in to Triple J's breakfast show, Robbie, Marieke and The Doctor, and discussed the band's new album which they were working on in Newcastle.

[106] However, in October 2021, when Johns was interviewed by Carrie Bickmore on the Australian news-current affairs and talk show The Project, he once again affirmed that the band will not reunite, while also stating that he still plans to work on new music but has no intentions to perform live again.

[107][108] In a separate interview with Carrie Bickmore, Johns elaborated further, stating that during his time with Silverchair, he had been the victim of sustained verbal abuse from the public because of his association with the band.

[9][11] Much of the band's early grunge and post-grunge work was inspired by Nirvana, Tool, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Black Sabbath.

"[47] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt Diorama "was a shockingly creative and impressive step forward that showed the band shedding its grunge past and adding horns, strings, and mature lyrics to its arsenal.

"[10] Fellow AllMusic reviewer Bradley Torreano noted that "they somehow kept going and kept improving ... Silverchair has grown up and put together a fine mix of orchestral pop and rock on Diorama.

[121] Gillies notes that Silverchair will often "run the risk of losing fans" with their work, and this was evident in the changes in musical direction in Diorama and Young Modern.

[25] Herald Sun journalist Nue Te Koha praised Frogstomp for "breaking the drought of Australian music making an impact overseas".

[124] Johns' vocal delivery was complimented: "[his] bittersweet, crackly voice tops the ample power chordage ... [he] hits shivery, emotional notes that convey both sweet idealism and disappointment".

[59] AllMusic's Clayton Bolger described Young Modern as an improvement by the band, praising "catchy melodic hooks, inspired lyrical themes, and stunning string arrangements".

[112] PopMatters' Nick Pearson saw the opposite, claiming that "[o]nce you reach the level of intellectual maturity where you can tell the difference between cryptic but poetic lyrics and nonsensical crap, you have outgrown Silverchair".