Empire Stars On How Music Played A Key Character On The Hit Series

The saga of Lucious, Cookie, and the rest of the Lyon clan is coming to a conclusion as Empire’s final season is about to conclude. The hit nighttime soap opera set against the backdrop of the music business is airing its finale tomorrow night.

Empire Stars Talk Music

Music is more than just the setting for the hit FOX show. It’s also a character! “The Lyon family delivered an amazing journey to take a peek inside the world of music and how it really goes down,” says Vivica A. Fox (Candy).

“The music surrounds us and pushes it to another level,” offers Trai Byers (Andre). His character, who was more on the business side of things and let his brothers shine on the music scene, finally got a chance to indulge in it as well this season — when Andre was ill.

“They keep calling it a ‘hip hop drama,’ but it’s more ‘pop,'” says Taraji P. Henson (Cookie). Onscreen sparring partner Terrence Howard (Lucious) points out: “Music is the very soul of Empire.”

Big-name stars from the music world guested on Empire throughout its run. Instead of playing themselves, they were cast as fictional characters. Mariah Carey (All I Want for Christmas Is You; Vision of Love) appeared in Season 3 of Empire as Kitty, a superstar who collaborated with Jamal (Jussie Smollett) on a new song.

Kelly Rowland (Here I Am) portrayed Lucious’s mother Leah Walker, who shined a light on her son’s troubled upbringing and how that led to his inability to always form healthy relationships as an adult. Rapper/actor Ludacris (The Fast & Furious) played Officer McKnight, a corrections officer in Lucious’s storyline. Also, Alicia Keys (Fallin’) played Skye Summers, a mentor to Jamal.

But some stars did play themselves. Pitbull (Give Me Everything) did a turn on the show in Season 2. He performed No Doubt About It with Jamal. Lenny Kravitz (Fly Away) also played himself on the show.

Empire was created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong. Check out the video above that showcases some of Empire’s most musical moments and guest stars. Empire’s finale airs Tuesday, April 21 at 9 p.m. on Fox.