Beatles to make debut on British stamps

LONDON, Dec 28 (Reuters) The Beatles are set to feature on British postage stamps for the first time, the Royal Mail said tooday.

Some 37 years after the world's most famous pop group broke up, Britain's Royal Mail will release a set of six stamps on January 9 depicting iconic Beatles' album covers.

The stamps ''celebrate the Beatles' extraordinary cultural contribution to Britain'', the Royal Mail said.

The featured albums are ''With the Beatles'', ''Help!'', the groundbreaking 1966 album ''Revolver'', ''Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'', ''Abbey Road'' -- with its famous photograph of the band walking across the street -- and ''Let it Be'', released in 1970 after the group disbanded.

The Fab Four from Liverpool conquered the world in the 1960s, becoming the most successful pop group in history.

John Lennon was murdered in New York in 1980 while George Harrison died of cancer in 2001. The surviving members are Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, who is locked in a bitter divorce battle with Heather Mills.

REUTERS SP RAI2047