That time of year: Mariah Carey delivers Christmas bonus
Mariah Carey is re-releasing her Merry Christmas album to mark its 30th anniversary. Photo: Instagram
Mariah Carey is to re-release All I Want For Christmas Is You.
The 55-year-old singer first unveiled the Yuletide hit in October 1994 as the first single from her holiday album Merry Christmas.
To celebrate it turning 30, she will re-release it along with a new version of the LP Merry Christmas.
The R’n’B legend shared the news on her Instagram account with a post recreating the album cover, and showing her dressed in a fur-trimmed Santa-inspired jumpsuit.
“While it is definitely not time to listen to Christmas music yet I wanted to share a glimpse of Merry Christmas 30 with you! An homage to the original album cover, here is the cover art for two of the four new All I Want For Christmas Is You physical singles … available for pre-order now!” her post said.
The Merry Christmas LP was a huge hit when it was released in 1994, selling 15 million copies.
All I Want For Christmas Is You was co-written by Carey and producer Walter Afanasieff. The pair came up with it while working on three original songs for the Merry Christmas album.
The song, which reportedly took only 15 minutes to write and compose, generates an estimated $US600,000 ($A890,000) a year in royalties for Carey.
Carey is also setting off on a North American Christmas tour.
SHE will bring back her annual Christmas extravaganza for 20 dates across the US, starting with an opening night at the Yaamava Theatre in Highland, California, on November 6.
In November, she will continue the tour in Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee and Illinois, before moving on to Washington DC, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina and New Jersey in December.
Carey will finish the tour with two nights in New York: a concert at UBS Arena in Belmont Park on December 15, and a final show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on December 17.
