New Jimi Hendrix stamp unveiled
Mar 11, 2014, 6:42 PM | Updated: 6:49 pm
(Rudy Gutierrez image)
Jimi Hendrix will live forever, at least on a commemorative Forever stamp being unveiled Thursday by the U.S. Postal Service.
The stamp was created by artist Rudy Gutierrez, who leaked the design Tuesday. Gutierrez crafted an image that resembles a vintage 45 rpm record sleeve. Hendrix is shown wearing one of his iconic military jackets with his signature white Fender Stratocaster guitar.
“The technical challenge was making art that will still read at stamp size, so it was a matter of not being overly complicated,” Gutierrez says in a news release. “It was important to make the art accessible … and to be true to the incredible combination of rawness and virtuosity that was Jimi Hendrix.”
Hendrix is just the latest music legend to get his own stamp, along with such greats as Johnny Cash and Ray Charles; Janis Joplin and James Brown will be the next inductees.
The stamp will be officially unveiled at a star-studded concert featuring Slash, Doors guitarist Robby Krieger and Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction, among other celebrities, at the South By Southwest music festival in Austin.
The Jimi Hendrix Forever stamp sells for 49 cents. It goes on sale Thursday at post offices, on the U.S. Postal Service website and eBay.