As students return to classrooms, TIME looks at an honor roll of rock stars who really made the grade Class Acts C Brandon / Getty Images Dexter Holland, left, and Noodles of the band the Offspring perform onstage at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London on June 5, 2012 Having already put the spotlight on some very bright actors, we thought the start of another academic year would be the perfect time to pay tribute to some equally smart musicians. While this group represents a broad range of musical styles (from doo-wop to punk) and fields of expertise (from astrophysics to medieval literature), these gifted individuals share two things: a genuine passion for learning and some darn good study habits. Next: Brian May Related Topics: Bad Religion, boston, Brian May, Colin Greenwood, Dexter Holland, Grateful Dead, Greg Graffin, John Perry Barlow, Laurie Anderson, Queen, Radiohead, rage against the machine, Robert Leonard, Sha Na Na, smart musicians, Sterling Morrison, The Offspring, Tom Morello, Tom Scholz, top 10, Velvet Underground, Music, Populist Brian May Paul Drinkwater / NBCU Photo Bank Brian May of the band Queen performs in the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games BEST KNOWN AS: the guitarist for Queen and writer of several of the band's hits, including "We Will Rock You" THE INTEL: When he helped form Queen in 1971, May had already earned a bachelor's degree in math and science at Imperial College London and was beginning work on his doctorate, for which he studied the mysterious properties of interstellar dust. He later applied some of that learning to his life as a rock star, most notably in creating the thunderous foot stomps in "We Will Rock You" through an acoustic principle called nonharmonic reverberation. In 2008, a few years after a professor encouraged him to resume his postgraduate studies, May was awarded a Ph.D. in astrophysics. EXTRA CREDIT: May is also something of an expert in Victorian-era 3-D photography and has co-authored a book on the subject. Next: Tom Scholz