29c Ritchie Valens stamp

The Postal Service celebrated Rock & Roll and Rhythm & Blues music with a sheet of thirty-five and a booklet of thirty 29-cent stamps. The stamp went on sale on June 16, 1993, in Cleveland, Ohio, and Santa Monica, California.

The stamps, featuring legendary Rock & Roll performers Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Clyde McPhatter, Elvis Presley, Otis Redding, Ritchie Valens, and Dinah Washington, were among the Postal Service's most culturally diverse issues ever. They present a multi-ethnic portfolio of white, black, and Hispanic performers whose careers span the evolution of America's own special brand of music.

The Rock & Roll/Rhythm & Blues commemorative stamps were a part of the Postal Service's Legends of American Music Series, which began earlier that year with the Elvis Presley stamp. The legends of American Music series ran for several years, featuring great performers from all genres of American music, including jazz, blues, and popular music.

Mark Stutzman designed the Presley, Holly, Haley, and Valens stamps. John Berkey designed the Redding, Washington, and McPhatter stamps. Stamp Venturers, Inc., produced the stamps in the photogravure process.

Reference:
Postal Bulletin (May 27, 1993).

Scott Catalogue USA: 2727
mint

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Museum ID: 2008.2007.118