Starting on March 17, Brits will be able to stamp their rent payments with images from the covers of some of David Bowie’s classic albums and performances.
While the Beatles and Pink Floyd have been featured on postage, this is the first set of stamps issued to commemorate an individual artist.
Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane and other record covers will appear on six of the set of 10 stamps; the remaining ones will show Bowie in different incarnations while performing around the world, including on the Ziggy Stardust tour, in 1972, and on the Serious Moonlight tour, in 1983.
Courtesy Royal Mail.
Bowie was innovative not only in his music but also in his fashion and his album designs, which incorporated or drew on the work of other inventive artists. Aladdin Sane, showing the musician in one of the many guises he adopted, features a cover photo by English fashion and portrait photographer Brian Duffy, while Bowie’s gesture in Masayoshi Sukita’s cover for Heroes (1977) took its inspiration from German artist Erich Heckel’s painting Roquairol, in which the subject strikes a similar pose.
This year would have marked Bowie’s 70th birthday; it’s also 50 years since the debut of his self-titled album. The death of the musician, who was also an artist and art collector, in January 2016, sent shock waves around the world and resulted in an outpouring of grieving tributes from fans.
Courtesy Royal Mail.
For those looking for another way to pay tribute to the Starman, you can pre-order the stamps now from the Royal Mail’s website, along with souvenirs like a case for the stamp set that includes a booklet with text by Bowie expert Nicholas Pegg.
Courtesy Royal Mail.
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