Quick, get the lights out of the garage — Mariah Carey has basically just declared Christmas open.
The singer, 55, announced last night (October 9) that she is celebrating the 30 year anniversary of her iconic 1994 Christmas album, Merry Christmas, by re-releasing its biggest hit, All I Want For Christmas Is You, with new cover art. And Carey is leaning into the nostalgia factor by choosing to re-release the classic on both vinyl and cassette formats.
In the new images shared via Instagram, she is seen wearing a figure-hugging “sexy Santa” outfit, as well as a long, fluffy white gown, slashed to the thigh and trimmed with feathers. We’d expect nothing less from the absolute undisputed queen of Christmas.
But even self-confessed Christmas obsessive Carey has admitted it’s a little early to actually listen to the song. “While it is definitely not time to listen to Christmas music yet!” she wrote in the caption. “I wanted to share a glimpse of #MerryChristmas30 with you.” However, many of her fans and famous friends have respectfully disagreed in the comments. “Oh yes it is!” wrote DJ and producer D-Nice. “My tree is going up just after Halloween.”
Carey actually teased the news earlier in the week, sharing a funny Instagram Reel in which she’s seen yelling “Not yet! Sorry! They always rush me!” at her pilot on a private jet supposedly headed to the North Pole, with the familiar opening twinkles of the song playing in the background. Even Santa Claus himself, via his official Instagram account, agreed, commenting “Not yet! We are not ready…but SOON!”.
Since its original release in 1994, All I Want For Christmas Is You, which Carey co-wrote with Walter Afanasieff, has become one of the biggest hits of all time. Back then, it only reached number six on the Billboard charts and number two in the UK and Japan. But, since streaming took over, it’s become one of the best-selling digital singles in history, selling 16 million copies worldwide and hitting number one in over 30 countries in the weeks before Christmas, due to it being an absolute must-play in offices, malls and at holiday parties.
Mariah Carey’s Kids Have Had Enough of ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’
Even music critics love the song, with MTV’s Kyle Anderson calling it “a majestic anthem full of chimes, sleigh bells, doo-wop flourishes, sweeping strings and one of the most dynamic and clean vocal performances of Carey’s career” and The New Yorker’s Sasha Frere-Jones naming it as “one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon.”
To date, it’s made estimated royalties of $100 million — so a festive re-release for its anniversary is a shrewd move.
And if anyone deserves a merry Christmas this year, it’s Carey. It’s been a tough few months for the singer, who lost her mother, Patricia Carey, 87, and sister, Alison Carey, 63, on the same day in August of this year.
