This post is a checklist list of musicians on U.S. stamps. It is an unusual post for me, but it is a list I made for myself for my own collecting. As a citizen of the United States, I was always a bit disappointed that there were not more musical topics on stamps, at least in comparison to other countries. This was true when I was a child, however, beginning in the 1990s with the Legends of American Music series, the United States became a leader in celebrating its musical culture with stamps.
I believe that American music is one of the great contributions of our culture to the world. American music is also quite wonderful in that many (most?) of the greatest contributions have been from people of color and women. Most composers and musicians on stamps are European. Even in Africa and Asia, musical stamps tend to pay tribute to high artists such as Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. There are some exceptions, particularly India and Cuba celebrate native musicians. Yet, the United States celebrates an extraordinary diversity of artists that are Black, Latino, and white. Similarly, while there are not a lot of women musicians and composers across the globe, the stamps below feature an abundance of female musicians. There is no other country that celebrates such a diversity of musical culture on its stamps.
About the List
This list is an attempt to make a comprehensive list of all musicians on U.S. stamps. A few notes about this list. I will include musicians from other countries (such as operatic tenor Enrico Caruso). In addition, the date after each stamp is the year it was issued. Also, I will mark all those from the Legends series with the letters LAM in parentheses (LAM).
On the other hand, I will not include those whose music making is a minor part of their biography. For example, I will not list Benjamin Franklin, though he did invent the glass harmonica. Similarly, I will not list Thomas Jefferson though he was known to play violin, nor Richard Nixon who was a pretty good pianist. Finally, I include a couple of nominal musicians because they are most famous for a musical work. For example, I did include Francis Scott Key who wrote the lyrics for “The Star-Spangled Banner.” I hope this list of musicians on U.S. stamps is helpful to some!
A
Roy Acuff (2003), country music singer and fiddler
Marian Anderson (2005), operatic contralto
Harold Arlen (1996, LAM), songwriter
Louis Armstrong (1995, LAM), jazz trumpeter and singer
Gene Autry (2010), country singer and guitarist
B
Mildred Bailey (1994, LAM), jazz singer
Josephine Baker (2008), singer
Samuel Barber (1997, LAM), composer
Count Basie (1996, LAM) jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader
The Beatles (1999) British rock band
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr
Irving Berlin (2002) songwriter
Leonard Bernstein (2001) conductor and composer
Eubie Blake (1995, LAM)
Fanny Brice (1991), singer
C
Hoagy Carmichael (1996, LAM) musician and songwriter
The Carter Family (1993, LAM) country music group
Alvin Pleasant, Maybelle, and Sara Carter
Enrico Caruso (1987), Italian operatic tenor
Johnny Cash (2013), country music singer
Ray Charles(2013), soul, blues, and R&B, singer, pianist, and songwriter
Patsy Cline (1993, LAM) country music singer
George M. Cohan (1978) singer and songwriter
Nat King Cole (1994, LAM) singer and songwriter
John Coltrane (1995) jazz saxophonist and composer
Bing Crosby (1994) pop singer
Celia Cruz (2011) Latin singer
D
Miles Davis (2012) jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader
Jimmy Dorsey (1996, LAM) jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, and bandleader
Tommy Dorsey (1996, LAM) jazz trombonist and bandleader
E
Duke Ellington (1986) jazz musician and composer
F
Arthur Fiedler (1997, LAM) conductor
Dorothy Fields (1996) songwriter
Ella Fitzgerald (2007) jazz singer
Stephen Foster (1940) songwriter
G
Carlos Gardel (2011) French born, Argentinian Tango singer and songwriter
Judy Garland (1990) singer
Errol Garner (1995, LAM) jazz pianist and composer
Marvin Gaye (2019) soul and R&B singer, songwriter
George Gershwin (1973) (1999, LAM) pianist and composer
Ira Gershwin (1999, LAM) lyricist
Benny Goodman (1996, LAM) jazz clarinetist and bandleader
Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1997, LAM) pianist and composer
Ferde Grofé (1997, LAM) composer
Woody Guthrie (1998, LAM) folk singer and songwriter
H
Bill Haley (1993, LAM) rock and roll singer and songwriter
Oscar Hammerstein II (1999, LAM) songwriter and composer
W. C. Handy (1969) blues trumpeter and songwriter
Yip Harburg (2005) lyricist
Lorenz Hart (1999) lyricist
Coleman Hawkins (1995, LAM) jazz saxophonist
Jimi Hendrix (2014) rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter
Victor Herbert (1940) composer
Bernard Herrmann (1999, LAM) composer
Billie Holiday (1994, LAM) jazz singer
Buddy Holly (1993, LAM) rock & roll singer and songwriter
Lena Horne (2018) singer
Julia Ward Howe (1987) writer of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”
Howlin’ Wolf (1994, LAM) blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter
I
Charles Ives (1997) composer
J
Mahalia Jackson (1998, LAM) gospel singer
James P. Johnson (1995, LAM) jazz pianist and composer
James Weldon Johnson (1988) writer of “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”
Robert Johnson (1994, LAM) blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter
Al Jolson (1994, LAM) singer
Janis Joplin (2014) rock singer and songwriter
Scott Joplin (1983) ragtime pianist and composer
Louis Jordan (2008) saxophonist, singer, and bandleader
K
Jerome Kern (1985) composer and songwriter
Francis Scott Key (1948) composer of “The Star-Spangled Banner”
Erich Korngold (1999, LAM) composer
L
Lead Belly (1998, LAM) blues and folk guitarist, singer, and songwriter
John Lennon (2019) rock & roll singer and songwriter, member of The Beatles
Alan Jay Lerner (1999, LAM) lyricist
Frank Loesser (1999, LAM) composer
Frederick Loewe (1999, LAM) composer
M
Edward MacDowell (1940), pianist and composer
Henry Mancini (2004) composer
Roberta Martin (1998, LAM) gospel singer and songwriter
John McCormack (1984) operatic tenor
Clyde McPhatter (1993, LAM) rock & roll singer
Lydia Mendoza (2013) guitarist and singer
Johnny Mercer (1996, LAM) singer and songwriter
Ethel Merman (1994, LAM) singer
Glenn Miller (1996, LAM) jazz trombonist, composer, and bandleader
Charles Mingus (1995, LAM) jazz bassist, pianist, composer, and bandleader
Carmen Miranda (2011) Latin singer
Thelonious Monk (1995, LAM) jazz pianist and composer
Jelly Roll Morton (1995, LAM) ragtime and jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader
N
Ethelbert Nevin (1940) pianist and composer
Alfred Newman (1999, LAM) composer
O
Eugene Ormandy (1997, LAM) conductor
P
Ignacy Paderewski (1960) Polish pianist and composer
Charlie Parker (1995, LAM) jazz saxophonist and composer
Edith Piaf (2012) French singer
Lily Pons (1997, LAM) operatic soprano
Rosa Ponselle (1997, LAM) operatic soprano
Cole Porter (1991, LAM) songwriter
Elvis Presley (1993, LAM) (2015) rock & roll singer
Tito Puente (2011) Latin drummer
R
“Ma” Rainey (1994, LAM) blues singer
Otis Redding (1993, LAM) soul singer
Paul Robeson (2004) singer
Jimmie Rodgers (1978) country singer and songwriter
Richard Rodgers (1999, LAM) composer
Roy Rogers (2010) country singer
Jimmy Rushing (1994, LAM) blues singer
S
Selena (2011) Latin singer
Dinah Shore (2009) singer
Frank Sinatra (2008) singer
Bessie Smith (1994), LAM blues singer
Kate Smith (2010), singer
John Philip Sousa (1940), military band conductor and composer
Max Steiner (1999, LAM) composer
Leopold Stokowski (1997, LAM) composer
Igor Stravinsky (1982) composer
George Szell (1997, LAM) conductor and composer
T
Sonny Terry (1998, LAM) blues musician
Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1998, LAM) gospel guitarist and singer
Lawrence Tibbett (1997, LAM) operatic baritone
Dimitri Tiomkin (1999, LAM) composer
Arturo Toscanini (1989) conductor
Richard Tucker (1997, LAM) composer
V
Ritchie Valens (1993, LAM) rock & roll singer
Sarah Vaughan (2016) jazz singer
W
Clara Ward (1996, LAM) gospel singer
Dinah Washington (1993, LAM) blues singer
Ethel Waters (1994, LAM) blues singer
Muddy Waters (1994, LAM) blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter
Franz Waxman (1999, LAM) composer
Josh White (1998, LAM) folk singer and songwriter
Hank Williams (1993, LAM) country singer and songwriter
Bob Wills (1993, LAM) country fiddler, songwriter, and bandleader
Meredith Willson (1999, LAM) bandleader, conductor, and composer
