# 5708 - 2022 First-Class Forever Stamp - Music Icons: Pete Seeger

US #5708
2022 Pete Seeger – Music Icons Series

• Honors folk singer and songwriter Pete Seeger and his lasting contributions to the music world
• Part of the popular Music Icons Series

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Series:  Music Icons
Value:  First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  July 21, 2022
First Day City:  Newport, Rhode Island
Quantity Issued:  22,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset, Microprint
Format:  Panes of 16
Tagging:  Phosphor, block tagged

Why the stamp was issued:  Commemorates folk singer, songwriter, and activist Pete Seeger.

About the stamp design:  Pictures a color-tinted, black-and-white photograph taken in the early 1960s by Seeger’s son, Dan.  It pictures the singer with his iconic banjo.

Special design details:  The pane of 16 resembles a vintage 45 rpm record sleeve.  It even has a piece of record appearing to stick out of the top.

First Day City:  The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held in Newport, Rhode Island, at the Jane Pickens Theater at an event known as “Newport Folk Presents:  For Pete’s Sake.”  It was followed by a concert honoring Seeger’s music.

About the Music Icons Series:  The Music Icons Series began in 2013 with the 46¢ Lydia Mendoza stamp (US #4786).  The series pays tribute to performers representing a wide range of eras and musical genres.  All the stamps and panes in the series are the same size, with the full panes designed to look like record sleeves.  It’s a fun way to look back on these legends and think about everything they accomplished and the lasting impact they had on the music industry to this day.

History the stamp represents:  On July 21, 2022, the United States Postal Service issued a new stamp in the popular Music Icons Series.  The design pictured Pete Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014), an American folk singer who rose to fame in the 1940s and 50s.

Pete Seeger was born in Manhattan to a family he referred to as “enormously Christian, in the Puritan, Calvinist New England tradition.”  His father was a composer and musicologist while his mother was a concert violinist and teacher at Juilliard.  Music was in Seeger’s blood, though his parents never pressured him to pursue it.  He was drawn to music from an early age, and began playing the ukulele in grade school.  After hearing a five-string banjo for the first time at a music festival in North Carolina, Seeger became determined to master it.  The rest is history.

Seeger’s career spanned more than seven decades.  He used his music to promote social, environmental, and political reform during this time.  Seeger remained active until the very end.  Upon his death, President Obama said “Over the years, Pete used his voice and his ‘hammer’ to strike blows for workers’ rights and civil rights, world peace, and environmental conservation.  And he always invited us to sing along.  For reminding us where we come from and showing us where we need to go, we will always be grateful to Pete Seeger.”