Ne-Yo joining music team on Empire

R&B singer/songwriter Ne-Yo has been tapped to join the crew of music creatives on hit hip-hop drama Empire.

The Closer hitmaker previously hinted he was in talks to join the record-breaking TV series, and on Monday (11May15), Fox network executives confirmed they have closed a deal with Ne-Yo and he will be writing new music with executive music producer Timbaland.

Ne-Yo, who is responsible for penning hit tracks such as Beyonce's Irreplaceable and Rihanna's Take a Bow, previously worked with Timbaland on the 2012 song Hands In The Air.

Ne-Yo joins the Empire team after its successful freshman season, which culminated with the show's soundtrack debuting at number one on the Billboard chart in March (15), beating out Madonna's Rebel Heart for the top spot by almost 9,000 copies.

Meanwhile, studio bosses have also revealed that season two of the show will include cameos from Chris Rock, Alicia Keys and Lenny Kravitz, when it returns this autumn (15).