The U.S. Postal Service dedicated the newly released Sara Vaughan postage stamp at North Carolina Central University’s 26th Annual Jazz Festival on April 15, 2016.
During the event, Debra Wiggins-Wooten, post office operations manager, dedicated the commemorative stamp in honor of renown jazz singer Sarah Vaughan. It was the first such dedication to take place in North Carolina.
The stamp bears an image of a Bart Forbes oil painting based on a 1955 photograph by Hugh Bell of Vaughan in performance.
Vaughan, a Grammy- and Emmy-winning singer often called “The Divine One” or “Sassy,” joins the ranks of musical greats who are part of the postal service’s Music Icons stamp series. Vaughn is a member of the Jazz Hall of Fame and the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
Throughout the 1970s and 80s, she recorded with jazz artists such as Zoot Sims, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Don Cherry and J.J. Johnson. She is best known for her hits "Misty," "Broken-Hearted Melody" and "Send in the Clowns."  Her songs ''Mr. Wonderful'' and ''Broken-Hearted Melody'' became title music for Broadway shows.
Vaughn’s voice range was more than three octaves and did not diminish with time; she sang with operatic virtuosity her entire five-decade career. Vaughn died of lung cancer in 1990 at 66.
The Sarah Vaughan stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp, which will always be equal to the current first-class mail single-ounce rate. The stamps are available for purchase at usps.com/stamps, or at the Postal Store usps.com/shop, by calling 800-STAMP24 (800-782-6724) and at post offices nationwide.