Bill Haley's Rock Around the Clock, released in 1955, was the first important rock & roll song by a white artist. His recording eased the transition for white audiences to what had been, to that time, primarily a black musical form. Rock & roll and rhythm & blues took the spotlight in the Legends of American series with seven designs. The designs were issued in a sheetlet of 35 stamps and in booklets. Among the most culturally diverse issues ever, this series presents a multi -ethnic portfolio of black, Hispanic, and white performers whose careers span the evolution of America's own brand of music.