Queen and Freddie Mercury get their own official Royal Mail stamps

23 June 2020, 11:14 | Updated: 22 September 2023, 13:38

The iconic group will be the third rock band to grace the front of UK postage stamps, following in the steps of the Beatles and Pink Floyd.

Queen will appear on Royal Mail stamps across the country next month as a celebration of the legendary band.

13 new stamps featuring their album artwork and rare live performance pictures will go on sale in July.

The album covers include Queen II (1974), Sheer Heart Attack (1974), A Night At The Opera (1975), News Of The World (1977), The Game (1980), Greatest Hits (1981), The Works (1984), and Innuendo (1991).

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Some of the band's incredible live performances will also feature on the stamps, including pictures of Freddie Mercury at Wembley Stadium in 1986, Roger Taylor at Hyde Park in 1976, John Deacon at Hammersmith Odeon in 1975, and Brian May in Budapest in 1986.

"It’s hard to put into words what I feel when looking at these beautiful stamps," guitarist Brian May said.

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"Since we four precocious boys started out on our quest 50 years ago, our lives have been devoted to making our impossible dream come true. 

"Sometimes it’s strange to wake up and realise the position in which we are now held – we have become a national institution! And nothing brings this home more than this incredible tribute from Royal Mail."

Drummer Roger Taylor added: "Wow.......stamps featuring our albums! What an honour. We must be really part of the furniture now!"

Queen will be the third rock band to receive the honour, following the Beatles in 2007 and Pink Floyd in 2016.

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"It’s particularly poignant to look at this collection of images now – now that we are all in a world dominated by a coronavirus, in which none of this could have happened," May continued. 

"I just know that I feel an overwhelming desire to own one of these sets! Somehow it will be a way of persuading myself that it really DID all happen!"

The stamps will be issued as a set of 13 and will be available to buy on July 9.