Empire (Queensrÿche song)

"Empire"
Single by Queensrÿche
from the album Empire
ReleasedSeptember 1990
RecordedSpring 1990
Genre
Length5:24
LabelEMI USA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Peter Collins
Queensrÿche singles chronology
"Last Time in Paris"
(1990)
"Empire"
(1990)
"Best I Can"
(1990)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help
Music video
"Empire" on YouTube

"Empire" is a song by the heavy metal band Queensrÿche, appearing on their 1990 album Empire. The lyrical content of the song warns of a foreboding and unstoppable "Empire" of drug trafficking within the United States and its related crimes, that will inevitably lead to the breakdown of civility in American society.

Known as a fan favorite, the group has played the song often live, doing so over a thousand times as of April 2016, and the track is the band's second most played song in its setlist history. It is exceeded only by "Eyes of a Stranger".