John Lennon US Stamp Coming To A Post Office Near You
In a highly unusual move, the United States Postal Service (USPS) will honor John Lennon, one of the greatest British musicians, with a stamp.
The list of those honored with stamps also includes the late Apple executive Steve Jobs, another music icon Michael Jackson, President Barack Obama, former Presidents Bill Clinton and both Bushes, The Doors frontman Jim Morrison (…) and Dora the Explorer.
If you can only imagine an American stamp with the likeness of a British musician, John Lennon would become one of the few foreigners to receive such an honor.
Of course, the Brit was part of the Fab Four, otherwise known as The Beatles, which also included Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.
This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles arriving in America and their subsequent rise to international fame beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.
Mark Saunders, a spokesman with the USPS told the Daily News:
“It’s general policy that US stamps feature Americans or American-related subjects, but other subjects can be considered if the subject had a truly significant impact on American history or culture.”
Some of the few foreigners honored with a stamp are, another British subject, Winston Churchill in 1965 and blessed mother Teresa from Calcuta, India in 2010.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney formed one of the most celebrated songwriting partnership and were founding members of the most commercially successful band in history.
Even though the legendary musician was British, he moved to New York City in 1971 after marrying Yoko Ono and retired from the music business to raise his son Sean in 1975.
As years went by John Lennon became an activist and was a vocal opponent to the war in Vietnam for which the Nixon administration attempted to deport him back to England.
John Lennon originally founded the Quarrymen and after he met Paul McCartney in 1957 and later on George Harrison, The Beatles were formed in 1960. Lennon’s friend Stuart Sutcliffe joined the band as a bassist. Ringo Starr joined the band as the drummer in 1962.
The Beatles first hit, “Love Me Do” was released in October 1962 and reached No. 17 on the British charts.
Lennon and McCartney wrote eight of the 14 songs for their debut album, Please Please Me, which they recorded in under 10 hours on February 11, 1963.
John Lennon was suffering from a cold, which is evident in his vocals on the last song The Beatles recorded that day, “Twist and Shout.” Lennon said of the results: “I couldn’t sing the damn thing, I was just screaming.”
John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980 near the entrance to his apartment building by Central Park, he was 40-years-old.
