Classic Pop Icons

Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Roy Orbison are among the artists who are being considered for inclusion in the U.S. Postal Service’s “Music Icons” series over the next few years. A Michael Jackson stamp is also planned, separate from the “Music Icons” series.

If it goes ahead, the John Lennon stamp will break the Postal Service’s convention that subjects must be American, but this wouldn’t be the first such breach.

A document from the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, obtained by the Washington Post, shows the development stage for each of the stamps and, where determined, what year they are scheduled to appear (YTBD = yet to be determined):

• Jimi Hendrix (2014) – In design development
• Janis Joplin (2014) – In design development
• Elvis Presley (2015) – In design development
• James Brown (2015) – In design development
• Roy Orbison (YTBD) – Design approved
• Michael Jackson (YTBD) – Not yet in design
• John Lennon (YTBD) – Not yet in design
• Jim Morrison (YTBD) – Not yet in design
• Sam Cooke (YTBD) – Not yet in design
• Tammy Wynette (YTBD) – Not yet in design
• Bill Monroe (YTBD) – Not yet in design
• Fats Waller (YTBD) – Not yet in design
• Freddie Fender (YTBD) – Not yet in design
• Willie Dixon (YTBD) – Not yet in design
• Sarah Vaughan (YTBD) – In design development.

The Washington Post and other sites are reporting that the Elvis Presley stamp will be a reissue of the 1993 stamp that became the Postal Service’s best selling stamp of all time. That might be the case, but it isn’t listed among the “Reprints” in the Committee’s list. So does the inclusion of the stamp in the “Music Icons” series and its “in design development” status indicate that this is a new Elvis stamp?

We asked Roy Betts, USPS Senior Public Relations Representative, for clarification about the Elvis stamp, and he highlighted that no final decisions have been made:

What you have been reading over the course of the past few days is still preliminary. What is final is that these subjects, including Elvis, have been approved for consideration and are moving forward in the process toward “final” approval.

If Elvis were reissued, I cannot confirm if he would be reissued in the Music Icons series but that would seem to be a logical place for him to be. Again, nothing is final. There are no guarantees. The process is not final until the Postal Service makes the announcement. It is very exciting to see so much interest in these possible stamps.

Susan McGowan, the USPS’s Executive Director for Stamp Services and Corporate Licensing, told the Washington Post that the stamps under consideration “are subject to change” at any time. She also invited public feedback on the stamps via the USPS Facebook page, noting:

“It will be very interesting to see what the American public thinks of the stamps under consideration. I’m sure people are going to be vocal about it.”

Here’s the full list of proposed stamps:

Postage stamp subjects approved by U.S. Postal Service