Glee's tribute to late actor and co-star Cory Monteith brought in 7.4 million viewers Thursday night, according to Entertainment Weekly.

That's a 2.8 rating for adults 18 to 49 years old; the highest ratings the FOX hit show has seen in about a year. It's also a 40 percent boost from the show's fifth season premiere that aired on Sept. 26 and up 75 percent from last week's episode.

Glee alums Noah "Puck" Puckerman (Mark Salling), Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley), Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera) and Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) returned and joined the opening scene of the McKinley Glee club's performance of Seasons of Love.The "Farewell to Finn" hour-long episode started three weeks after Finn Hudson (Monteith's) funeral. While it was never revealed how Finn died on the show, characters stressed that it's more important to remember how someone lives their life, not how they die. However after a PSA on drug abuse aired after the show. Monteith died on July 13 from a drug overdose.

The assignment on the whiteboard for the class was simply "Finn." Each cast member had their chance to sing a song that reminded them of him.Mercedes sang a rendition of I'll Stand By You-- a song Finn previously covered in the show. Lea Michele who was Monteith's girlfriend on and off the show and plays Rachel Berry, returned to say farewell. She belted out Make You Feel My Love-- the first song she and Finn sang together in the car. She said it was something she used to do when she was by herself until she met Finn.

Glee is set to return Thursday Nov. 7 at 9/8c.