About This Stamp
With this stamp in the Music Icons series, the U.S. Postal Service® honors Elvis Presley (1935–1977), the singer, guitarist, musician, and actor who became one of the first true stars of rock and roll.
This stamp features a 1955 black-and-white photograph of Presley taken by William Speer. In the bottom left corner, between the words “Forever” and “USA”, is a small gold crown, a nod to Presley’s nickname, The King of Rock and Roll™. Presley’s signature, in gold ink, is also featured along the right side.
The square stamp sheet resembles a vintage 45 rpm record sleeve. One side of the sheet includes the stamps and the image of a sliver of a record seeming to peek out of the top of the sleeve. The following text borders the block of stamps:
“During his illustrious career, rock-and-roll superstar Elvis Presley starred in dozens of feature films, won three Grammy Awards, and recorded 18 number one singles: Heartbreak Hotel, I Want You, I Need You, I Love You, Don’t Be Cruel, Hound Dog, Love Me Tender, Too Much, All Shook Up , (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear, Jailhouse Rock, Don’t, Hard Headed Woman, A Big Hunk O’ Love, Stuck On You, It’s Now Or Never, Are You Lonesome Tonight?, Surrender, Good Luck Charm, Suspicious Minds”
An image of Presley shot by photographer Alfred Wertheimer and the logo for the Music Icons series appear on the reverse side. Antonio Alcalá served as the art director and designed the stamp sheet with Leslie Badani.
The Elvis Presley stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp. This Forever stamp will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
ELVIS™ and ELVIS PRESLEY™ are trademarks of ABG EPE IP LLC.
Rights of Publicity and Persona Rights: Elvis Presley Enterprises, LLC.
Copyright Alfred Wertheimer. Photo courtesy of AW Archives.
Stamp Art Director
Antonio Alcalá
Antonio Alcalá served on the Postmaster General’s Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee from 2010 until 2011, when he left to become an art director for the U.S. Postal Service's stamp development program.
He is founder and co-owner of Studio A, a design practice working with museums and arts institutions. His clients include: the National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Phillips Collection, and Smithsonian Institution. He also lectures at colleges including the Corcoran College of Art + Design, SVA, Pratt, and MICA.
In 2008, his work and contributions to the field of graphic design were recognized with his selection as an AIGA Fellow. He has judged international competitions for the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, AIGA, and Graphis. Alcalá also serves on the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and Poster House Museum’s advisory councils. His designs are represented in the AIGA Design Archives, the National Postal Museum, and the Library of Congress Permanent Collection of Graphic Design.
Alcalá graduated from Yale University with a BA in history and from the Yale School of Art with an MFA in graphic design. He lives with his wife in Alexandria, Virginia.
Stamp Designer
Leslie Badani
A native of Northern Virginia, Leslie Badani is the younger of two daughters whose parents emigrated from Bolivia in the 1970s. She spent much of her youth categorizing fonts and designing mock magazine covers. She graduated with honors from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, DC, in 2007, with a degree in graphic design.
Badani has since worked on many award-winning projects at Studio A in Alexandria, Virginia, and designed exhibitions, catalogs, and marketing materials for the National Gallery of Art, National Postal Museum, Textile Museum, Walters Art Museum, Smithsonian Books, and AIGA, among many others.
Working at Studio A with USPS Art Director Antonio Alcalá allowed Badani to participate in the design process of many U.S. commemorative stamps since 2011. Elvis Presley (2015) and Geometric Snowflakes (2015) were her first projects for the U.S. Postal Service®. She designed these and the 2016 USA (Nonprofit Org), 2017 Patriotic Nonprofit, and 2018 Frozen Treats stamps with Antonio Alcalá.