The world has lost an icon of creativity and intelligence today with the death of Stephen Hawking. The scientist’s many published works on physics and cosmology, along with his courageous decades-long battle with ALS, made him a hero to millions. Today (March 14), the rock world has paid tribute to one of their fellow dreamers.

Hawking was diagnosed with ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s disease) in 1963, at the age of 21. The average person will survive three years with ALS, but Hawking persevered for 55 years. In 1988, Hawking released his first book, "A Brief History of Time," to massive success. With more than 10 million copies sold, the book allowed Hawking to introduce cosmological ideas to the public in bite-sized chunks, turning a generation of adults into awestruck kids staring up at the stars.

Rock and metal bands have taken to social media to memorialize Stephen Hawking:

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