'Empire' Season 2 Adds Kelly Rowland as Lucious' Mom

Round and round, the Empire Season 2 wheel of casting rolls out more and more big names, and after Marisa Tomei, another name has signed on in a surprising role. Singer and Destiny’s Child survivor Kelly Rowland will appear in a significant Empire Season 2 role, playing matriarch to none other than Lucious Lyon himself.

Per E! Online, the 34-year-old Rowland will appear in flashbacks from the second season, dipping back a bit further than usual to showcase Lucious (Terrence Howard)’s own childhood. The singer and X Factor judge had previously been tweeted spending time with the Empire writers, though no one knew for sure what the appearance meant until now.

As previously established, where Empire Season 1 unfolded over a modest 12 episodes, Season 2 will expand to 18, structured in two halves with a major cliffhanger between. Other Season 2 guest stars include Marisa Tomei, Adam Rodriguez, Chris Rock, Lenny Kravitz and Alicia Keys, while hip-hop artist Ne-Yo will join Timbaland in writing music for Season 2.

Empire will return on September 23, but what other big-name guest stars might the Lyon family recruit?

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