USPS to Honor John Lennon With Forever Stamp
The U.S. Postal Service revealed on Dec. 12, 2017 that John Lennon would be the latest addition to its Music Icons series, with a stamp featuring the late Beatle.
In their announcement, the USPS noted that the newest stamp: “honors singer and songwriter John Lennon (1940–1980), a rock ’n’ roll hero successful both as a founding member of the Beatles and as a solo artist.”
On May 10, the USPS unveiled new artwork for the Lennon stamp, part of the Forever series. The stamp features a photograph of Lennon taken by noted rock-and-roll photographer Bob Gruen in August 1974. Taken on the rooftop of Lennon’s Manhattan apartment, the photograph is part of a series of images taken by Gruen during the photo session for Lennon’s 1974 album Walls and Bridges.
From the announcement: “The original black-and-white photograph has been treated in gradations of color: from yellow orange to red in the top row, from red to light purple in the second row, from light purple to dark purple in the third row and from dark purple to blue in the bottom row. Lennon’s signature appears at the top of the stamps. ‘USA,’ the peace symbol, and the Forever denomination appear along the bottom.
From the USPS: “The USPS launched the Music Icons stamp series in 2013. The selected performers for the series, representing diverse eras and types of music, are featured on stamps with panes that feature the Music Icons logo so that each issue is branded like a record label release. Each pane resembles the sleeve of a 45 rpm single, with the sliver of a record seeming to peek out the top of one side, and a full color ‘cover’ image on the other.”