Royal Mail releases a 12-stamp issue of Dame Shirley Bassey

She has won many plaudits throughout her 70 year career and now Dame Shirley Bassey is the subject of 12 special stamps. 

The ‘Girl from Tiger Bay’ is the first solo female music artist to be honoured with a dedicated stamp issue. 

Eight stamps in the main set show Dame Shirley performing throughout her career, while a further four stamps, presented in a miniature sheet, capture her during recording sessions and rehearsals. 

Dame Shirley, 86, said: ‘I am absolutely thrilled and would never have dreamed that one day my face would be on a stamp – that one day a letter might arrive and there I am, with a postmark next to me! 

‘It’s an absolute honour to be the first solo female artist to receive a collection from Royal Mail. The stamps are wonderful, and I hope my fans and collectors love them as much as I do.’ 

Dame Shirley Bassey singing ‘World in Union’ (with Bryn Terfel) during the Opening Ceremony of the Rugby World Cup, 1999

Here she is pictured performing in Brighton in 1988

David Gold, Royal Mail’s director of external affairs and policy, said: ‘For seven decades Dame Shirley Bassey has captivated fans across the world with her distinctive and powerful voice. 

‘This stamp issue is a fitting celebration of one of the UK’s most revered and longest serving musical icons.’ 

The stamps include Dame Shirley singing at the Pigalle nightclub in 1965, in Bournemouth in 1974, at the BBC Electric Proms in 2009, singing World In Union (with Bryn Terfel) during the Opening Ceremony of the Rugby World Cup in 1999, and performing during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood in 2013.

This is the first time Royal Mail has dedicated an entire stamp issue to a solo female music artist

The singer pictured on a TV show in 1963 

David Gold, Royal Mail’s director of external affairs and policy, said: ‘For seven decades Dame Shirley Bassey has captivated fans across the world with her distinctive and powerful voice’

The 86-year-old pictured performing at the Safeway Picnic in the Park in 2002

Eight stamps in the main set show Dame Shirley performing throughout her career, while a further four stamps, presented in a miniature sheet, capture her during recording sessions and rehearsals

Dame Bassey performs at the Oscars held at the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, 2013

The music legend can be seen performing at the BBC Electric Proms, The Roundhouse, in 2009