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Empire returns with a whopping 16.2million viewers... making it Fox's most successful season premiere in six years

Published: 18:25 EST, 24 September 2015 | Updated: 18:36 EST, 24 September 2015

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Empire’s second season was hotly anticipated, and it certainly didn’t disappoint when it kicked off on Wednesday evening.

The show drew in a staggering 16.18million, making it the most watched season premiere on Fox since House in 2009, Entertainment Weekly revealed.

It’s down just 1.44million from the season one finale, and up significantly from the pilot, which saw 9.9million viewers tune in.

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Kicking off with a bang: Empire drew in 16.18million viewers for its season two premiere on Wednesday night

With a 6.7 rating among adults aged 18-49, Empire easily beat out all other shows in its timeslot.

It was a good evening all around for fox, which also premiered new show Rosewood to a large audience of 7.4million.

Fox is putting its number one show to good use, and The Hollywood Reporter revealed in its new issue that a 30-second commercial during the season two premiere of Empire set advertisers back $750,000.

Number one: With a 6.7 rating among adults aged 18-49, Empire easily beat out all other shows in its timeslot

He's back: The show returned with Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) in prison, three months after his arrest on murder charges

That number won’t be dwindling very much for the rest of the season either, with $600,000 apparently being the price for advertising in upcoming episodes.

Empire stars Terrence Howard as fallen record label founder Lucious Lyon, while Taraji P. Henson plays his scheming ex-wife Cookie.

The second season kicked off with Lucious in jail facing murder charges, while Cookie was forced to turn to him for help after being double crossed by cunning Mimi Whiteman (played by Marisa Tomei) during her bid for a hostile takeover.

Double crossed: Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) turns to her ex-husband for help after she is outwitted by Mimi Whiteman (Marisa Tomei)

Star-studded season: Chris Rock also appeared in the premiere, as one of Lucious's fellow inmates

Chris Rock also made a guest starring appearance in the episode, portraying one of Lucious’s fellow inmates who has some ‘old beef’ with Cookie.

The show’s creator Lee Daniels threw a viewing party on Wednesday night, where he was joined by Mariah Carey – who is set to appear on the show too.

Marisa, Whoopi Goldberg, past guest star Raven-Symone and Kathy Najimy were also there to join in the fun.

50 Cent was another star to tune in for the premiere, during which Taraji’s character referred to him as a ‘thirsty a**’.

Viewing party: Show creator Lee Daniels watched the episode with Mariah Carey, Marisa, Raven-Symone and Kathy Najimy

Tongue-in-cheek: 50 Cent responded to being called a 'thirsty a**' by pretending he had a romantic relationship with Cookie

Thirsty can mean horny or eager, and the rapper was quick to respond to the diss the following morning, albeit with his tongue firmly in his cheek.

'I can't believe Cookie would say some s**t like that about me,' he shared in an Instagram video. 'Thirsty, me? Thirsty? Come on. You stupid.'

He then teased that he and fictional Cookie were previously romantically involved, adding: 'Man, me and Cookie go way back, you know I hit that!'

Empire airs on Wednesday nights at 9pm, and Alicia Keys, Kelly Rowland and Lenny Kravitz will be among the other famous faces making appearances this season.