On Jan. 20 the British Royal Mail will release its commemoration of the 60th anniversaryof the longest, oldest surviving and touring “it’s only rock ‘n’ roll” band, The Rolling Stones, with a set of celebratory snail mail stamps. Sir Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards worked closely with Royal Mail on the issue of the set (sadly, founding drummer—and former graphic designer—Charlie Watts died in August). The collection includes eight stamps that feature photos of lead singer Jagger, guitarists Richards and Wood, and Watts (no Bill Wyman) performing at concerts around the world, from London’s Hyde Park in 1969 to East Rutherford, New Jersey, in 2019.
Four additional Stones stamps are presented in a miniature souvenir sheet and feature two portraits of the band, and two of posters from their global tours.
Like the U.S. Postal Service, the British Royal Mail realized there is profit in honoring its rock rebels. There’s gold in them there stamps, notes David Gold, Royal Mail’s director of public affairs and policy, who said: “Few bands in the history of rock have managed to carve out a career as rich and expansive as that of the Rolling Stones.” They join The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Queen and Sir Paul McCartney on this stick-and-peel series. You might say about the Stones set, these analog beauties literally take letters off of my cloud.
Credit goes to Forbes magazine—which may have been the first media outlet to break the news in the States.