The post-main-sequence evolution of stars with higher initial mass (>8 solar masses) has some distinct differences from those of solar and intermediate-mass stars. We show how multiple-shell burning can lead to core-collapse supernovae, which are important in generating elements heavier than iron. Some supernovae can lead to the curious stellar endpoints of neutron stars and black holes.

Observations of the high-energy (X-ray, γ-ray) emission for galaxies opens a new window to study star-forming activity through the detection of the remnants of massive stars. In this chapter we discuss the use of X-ray binaries, supernovae and supernova remnants,γ-ray emission, and γ-ray burstsas star-formation rate indicators. We give an introduction to the different types of X-ray binaries, recent efforts to model their population, and wepresent our current understanding of the scalling relations between populations of X-ray binaries, or their integrated X-ray emission, and the star-formation rate or stellar mass of their host galaxies. Special attention is given on the dependence of these scaling relations and the formation efficiency of X-ray binaries on the age and metallicity of the stellar populations.We also discuss the use of supernovae,supernova remnants, and γ-ray emission (γ-ray bursts and total γ-ray emission) as probes of star-forming activity, recent results and the limitations of these methods. Finally we discuss how gravitational wave sources can be used in order to probe the star-formation history of the Universe.