A few months ago, "Empire" fans were given the news that the show's upcoming second season would be expanded to 18 episodes with the first half airing in the fall and the second airing in the spring.

Now, according to Just Jared, Fox has just announced that "Empire" Season 2 will premiere on Sept. 23 at 9pm EST.

In addition to announcing the premiere date of "Empire's" second season, "Empire" creator Danny Strong is also dishing on the details regarding new cast member Chris Rock.

In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter at the Television Academy panel, Strong revealed that Rock will play someone "from the past."

He also revealed that Jussie Smollet's character, Jamal, will be a "very passionate" leader now that he has been chosen to be the head of "Empire."

"He's going to lead with his heart and sometimes that's going to get him in trouble," Strong teased.

Ilene Chaiken, the "Empire" showrunner, also joined in on the discussion of the show's second season. She explained that season one focused on who would inherit the throne while season two will focus on how the kingdoms interact now that a new person is in charge.

In addition to Chris Rock coming on board the show, fans can also look forward to seeing Alicia Keys and Lenny Kravitz join the show as well.

But despite the star-studded cast, Chaiken insists that "Empire" intends to stay true to its story about family and not about the celebrities who join the cast.

"The biggest challenge, I feel, is to stay true to the stories, to stay true to the characters," Chaiken explained. "To make sure that Empire continues to be about this family and these relationships and not to loose sight of that in the midst of all of the fabulous opportunities to bring great guest stars onto this show which we are going to do, but Empire is the Lyons."

As the Lyons continue to unravel in the second season, Taraji P. Henson's character Cookie will attempt to regain her power within "Empire" all while dealing with two love interests, Henson revealed.

Meanwhile, Cookie's son Andre who is played Trai Byers will go through a huge spiritual growth.

"Andre is trying to become something different with his spirituality and with his baby on the way so I would say that that would affect him in the way that he deals with the people in his family, even Jamal," Byers explained, adding, "Ultimately, there's a lot of rivalry but there's a lot of love in this family."

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