Chris Rock, Lenny Kravitz, Ne-Yo, Alicia Keys Joining Empire

Season 2 of ‘Empire’ is on the way but while we wait, Fox has unveiled that a few big names will be making an appearance. 

Fox TV chairman and CEO Dana Walden announced Monday that actor-comedian Chris Rock, singer Alicia Keys and singer/actor Lenny Kravitz will appear guest star next season. Details on their roles have not been released just yet. Empire fans will also be happy to know that Fox has ordered more episodes of the hit series. Rather than 12 episodes, Empire’s second season will now be 18 episodes when it returns in the Fall. There will be a break mid-season with the second half of the season airing in 2016. 

Singer/Songwriter Ne-Yo has also been tapped to write music for Season 2, joining the series’ current music producer Timbaland. “We just signed NE-YO who’s going to be writing all new music with Timbaland,” announced Fox co-chairs Dana Walden and Gary Newman to the thrill of anyone who thought mid-’00s R&B was underrated.