Singer recants MP pot-smoking tale

SYDNEY, July 9 (UPI) -- Silverchair singer Daniel Johns apologized Monday after claiming he smoked marijuana with a member of Parliament and U2 lead singer Bono last year.

During a radio interview, Johns said he, his wife, singer Natalie Imbruglia, federal MP Peter Garrett and Bono were "lying on Bono's bed smoking joints, listening to Modern demos."

Later, Johns issued a statement calling the claim "stupid," the Sydney Guardian Mail reported.

"(Bono and Mr Garrett) are both known to be very anti-drugs, so that's why I assumed everybody would know I was joking when I made that comment. I was fortunate enough to get to play them some of my demos but I swear no joints were involved," Johns said in a statement

"We confirm Daniel Johns' statement saying that it was a joke," said Kate Pasterfield, a spokeswoman for Garrett.

She said Garret told her he tried drugs in his 20s, but not since.

Anti-drugs campaigner Tony Wood, whose daughter Anna died of an ecstasy overdose in 1995, said Garrett could take a drug test to resolve the matter.