The process by which a star evolves during its lifetime over the course of millions to billions of years, as it ages and eventually dies is referred to as the the Stellar Evolution.
Everything on Earth, with the exception of hydrogen and helium, was made in stars. The hydrogen and most of the helium in the universe were made when the universe was only a few minutes old. We and our Earth are star dust or, if you prefer, the nuclear waste of 8000 million years of Stellar Evolution.
Stars are born during galaxy formation from interstellar clouds of (mostly) hydrogen gas under gravitational collapse. The hydrogen atoms collide with increasing speeds until eventually they combine to form helium and release energy, giving birth to a star. Stars remain stable for a very long time, burning hydrogen into helium and radiating energy.
When a star runs out of fuel it cools and contracts. A star with mass below their limit might collapse to form a white dwarf star or a neutron star, often times they sit in their position, called planetary nebulae. A star with mass above their limit may explode or throw off matter to reduce its mass below the limit. Otherwise, it might collapse to infinite density and form a black hole.
White dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes are the dead cinders of former stars.