Silverchair vocalist, Daniel Johns, made history at the 2008 APRA Awards held in Sydney when he won the prestigious APRA Songwriter of the Year award.

This latest achievement makes the Silverchair frontman the first songwriter in the 26 year history of the APRA Awards to receive this honour on three separate occasions (he also won in 1995 with bandmate Ben Gillies and then in 2003 for his work on Diorama).

In addition to winning Songwriter of the Year Daniels composition Straight Lines (which he co-wrote with The Presets Julian Hamilton) was named the APRA Song of the Year and the Most Played Australian Work.

Its a serious honor to be recognized by your peers in the music community Daniel Johns said Writing songs means everything to me so to receive these awards for the art of songwriting feels particularly special.

These acknowledgements by APRA and its members cap an extraordinary year for Daniel and his Silverchair bandmates. After a lengthy hiatus the group returned in 2007 with their fifth consecutive number 1 charting album Young Modern. The disc was among the most acclaimed of the groups career. It went on to be certified triple platinum and swept last years ARIA Awards.

After last night Daniel Johns now has the unprecedented honour of winning both more APRA Awards AND more ARIA Awards than any other artist in history. He recently turned 29 years old.

After touring non-stop into early 2008, Silverchair is currently on a well-earned break. The band hopes to return to the studio next year.