--- description: The Fox soap stars brought the house down at the Las Vegas awards show title: Watch the Stars of 'Empire' Perform at the Billboard Music Awards image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch the Stars of _Empire_ Perform at the Billboard Music Awards  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2015 2:24 AM CUT  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 18, 2015 2:24 AM CUT They’re the stars of last season’s biggest TV hit — and now they’re coming to reign over the music industry too. Jussie Smollett and Bryshere “Yazz” Gray, who, respectively, play Jamal and Hakeem Lyon on Fox’s prime-time soap _Empire_, performed at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. The pair, joined by singer and _Empire_ guest star Estelle, performed two tracks from the hit show: “Conqueror” and “You’re So Beautiful.” The performance provided a promotional opportunity for a show that’s been off the air since March. But it also served as a compelling argument that _Empire_ is valuable for more than just its ratings power. The show, which has relied on the songwriting talents of producer Timbaland and is adding recording artist Ne-Yo to write songs for Season 2, has already spun off one surprisingly successful soundtrack album. The _Empire_ album blocked Madonna’s _Rebel Heart_ from reaching No. 1 on the charts, proving that Smollett and Gray are among the recording industry’s rising stars. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3854204/empire-billboard-music-awards/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3854204/empire-billboard-music-awards/"},"headline":"Watch the Stars of Empire Perform at the Billboard Music Awards","datePublished":"2015-05-18T02:24:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:06:03.463Z","description":"The Fox soap stars brought the house down at the Las Vegas awards show","url":"https://time.com/3854204/empire-billboard-music-awards/","keywords":["Music","Billboard Music Awards","empire"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel D'Addario","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3854204/empire-billboard-music-awards/","name":"Watch the Stars of Empire Perform at the Billboard Music Awards"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Taylor Swift Steals the Show at the Billboard Music Awards 2015","description":"Highlights from the Billboard Music Awards 2015 in Las Vegas.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/qLXVgKJ8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-05-18T06:19:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qLXVgKJ8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3854204/empire-billboard-music-awards/","duration":"PT1M8S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3854204/empire-billboard-music-awards/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```