Mariah Carey relaunching Christmas hit to mark 30 years

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 – the first single from her holiday album Merry Christmas – and to celebrate the song turning 30 years she is re-releasing it as well as a new version of the LP Merry Christmas.

The R’n’B legend shared the news on her Instagram account and re-created the cover album cover, which shows her dressed in a Santa-inspired jumpsuit trimmed with fur.

“While it is definitely not time to listen to Christmas music yet I wanted to share a glimpse of #MerryChristmas30 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, with the pair coming up with the track while working on three original songs for the Merry Christmas album.

The song, which reportedly only took 15 minutes to write and compose, generates an estimated $US600,000 a year in royalties for Carey.

Carey is also setting off on a North American Christmas tour.

The singer 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.