Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
We describe present theoretical ideas about the time evolution of the winds of luminous stars with emphasis to effects of non-sphericity and non-stationarity. We discuss the evolution of the winds of rotating luminous stars during their main sequence evolution, in particular when they approach their Eddington-limit or any other surface instability. We then consider the winds of post-main sequence stars up to the immediate pre-supernova stage. We connect the giant outbursts of Luminous Blue Variables with luminous rotating post-main sequence stars in thermal disequilibrium. We further discuss the spin-up effect of Heger & Langer (1998) for post-red supergiants and describe its observational consequences. We compare theoretical models with observations of the winds of B[e] supergiants and Luminous Blue Variables in general, and with SN 1987A, VY CMa and η Car and the Pistol Star in particular.