Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard have legendary chemistry together on Fox's Empire. Even before that, the two talented actors lit up the big screen together in the 2005 Oscar-nominated movie Hustle & Flow. They'll face off against each other on Spike TV's hit show Lip Sync Battle, which airs its season finale Thursday night, and videos of Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson singing show they are even better when they perform together. Which Empire star will take home the victory? Who knows, but it'll be sure fun to watch these two go head-to-head, just like they do on their hit drama series.
On Empire, Howard plays ruthless music mogul Luscious Lyon and Henson plays his kickass ex-wife (and sometimes lover) Cookie. Together on screen, they're fire — and it's been that way since Hustle & Flow, in which Howard played a pimp-turned-rapper and Henson played a pregnant prostitute-turned-signer. For the movie, they combined with Three 6 Mafia for the Oscar-winning song "Hard Out Here For A Pimp" — and get this, they'll be lip syncing the song on Lip Sync Battle. It's a first for the show to have their contenders perform together, according to host LL Cool J, but it sure looks like it's going to be amazing.
Here are a few other times Howard and Henson stole the show singing together.
Lip Sync Battle - "Hard Out Here For A Pimp"
It's the song that first brought these two powerhouses together, and it has endured. The above clip is just that — a small snippet of their epic Hustle & Flow song reunion. They just own that stage, don't they?
Hustle & Flow - "Hard Out Here For A Pimp"
This song is not the only tune from the movie, but it is the most famous one. Henson and Howard played love interests in Hustle & Flow as well. It was a mere hint of to what was to come from these two amazing actors.
Fun fact: When Three 6 Mafia sang the song at the 2006 Oscars, Henson sang her part live. Howard opted to have the members of Three 6 Mafia do his parts, because two of the song's writers are in the trio (and they went on to win the award for Best Original Song).
2010 Soul Train Music Awards - Dance Off
Henson and Howard hosted the Soul Train Music Awards in 2010 and it lead to this epic dance off — these two are so competitive, aren't they? Even when they're dancing together, you can feel the heat.
As for who won, Howard takes out his inhaler by the end of the performance. I guess that means this one went to Taraji.
Empire - "You're So Beautiful"
We haven't heard Henson or Howard sing together much on Empire, but most of the cast had a part in this version of this hit song from the series.
But, who will win the Lip Sync Battle between Henson and Howard? We'll just have to watch to find out.
Images: Spike TV
