Redbone's publicist reveals the Lazy River singer has decided to hang up the microphone because it has become "too challenging" for him to continue with recording and touring commitments.

A double album of his live and studio recordings, dating back to the early 1970s, will be released on fan Jack White's Third Man Records later this year (15).

Redbone rose to fame after Bob Dylan discovered him in the mid-1970s, admitting the ageless singer "interests me".

Always enigmatic and eccentric, Redbone appeared twice as a musical guest on the inaugural season of Saturday Night Live.

He enjoyed chart success in 1981 with Seduced and went on to provide the music for commercials for Budweiser and the theme to 1980s TV series Mr. Belvedere. He also voiced Leon the Snowman in Elf, and sang Baby, It's Cold Outside with Zooey Deschanel over the Will Ferrell film's closing credits.

His last album, Flying By, was released last year (14).

According to RollingStone.com, a Redbone documentary, titled Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone: The Search for Leon Redbone, is in development.