| Empire | |
| Cover: | Queensryche - Empire single cover.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Queensrÿche |
| Album: | Empire |
| Released: | September 1990 |
| Recorded: | Spring 1990 |
| Length: | 5:24 |
| Label: | EMI USA |
| Producer: | Peter Collins |
| Prev Title: | Last Time in Paris |
| Prev Year: | 1990 |
| Next Title: | Best I Can |
| Next Year: | 1990 |
"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".[1]
| Chart (1990–91) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA Charts)[2] | 150 | |
| UK Singles[3] [4] | 61 | |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock[5] | 22 |