"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".