It’s official. ‘Empire’ is a No. 1 hit. The music industry-driven drama earned Fox its biggest ratings in years on Wednesday night (Jan. 7).

Buoyed by the ‘American Idol' lead-in, the series, which stars Terrence Howard as a street thug-turned-record label executive, grabbed 9.8 million viewers and a 3.7 rating among adults 18-49, reports Entertainment Weekly. Taraji P. Henson stars as Cookie, the ex-wife of as Lucious Lyons, Howard's character.

‘Empire’ even beat out ABC’s perennial Wednesday hit ‘Modern Family’ and maintained its audience lead from 9-10PM with no drop off. The show even outperformed Fox’s heavily publicized drama ‘Gotham,’ which premiered last September.

This is exceptionally good news considering there aren’t many shows with an all-black cast on network television. Hopefully, the series can hold the audiences' attention throughout the season.

50 Cent may have thrown jabs at Henson, but it looks like she’s having the last laugh today.

Fox’s ‘Empire’ airs every Wednesday at 9PM ET. You can watch the pilot episode here.

Watch the Trailer to Fox's Drama Series 'Empire'

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