He will dedicate his award to his mother

Tom Jones is due to receive a special Brit Award recognising a lifetime of achievements in the music industry.

And the occasion is likely to be emotionally-charged one, after the star promised to dedicate the award to his mother Freda, who recently died.

Jones burst onto the music scene 40 years after leaving as the front man of Tommy Scott and the Senators and taking the stage name that made him a huge star.

With a career spanning It's Not Unusual to Sex Bomb, Jones has enjoyed some of the biggest hits in pop music and becoming a global star.

Sixties star: Tom Jones became a huge star

But the 62-year-old Welsh singing legend was devastated at the loss of his mother, Freda Woodward, who died in Los Angeles earlier aged 88.

He told friends and relatives he intended to use the Brit Awards ceremony to pay tribute to her.

But family members in his home town of Treforest, south Wales, have said the star fears he will be reduced to tears when he gives his dedication speech.

On Thursday night, Jones is due to close the ceremony by performing a range of his medley of his greatest hits to end the Brit Awards, which are hosted by Davina McCall at London's Earl Court.

Mrs Woodward died at her Bel Air home where she lived with Tom's sister Sheila in a mansion bought for them by Tom.

When he heard the news he immediately cancelled a string of shows he was playing in Las Vegas.

His mother nursed him through a bout of the potentially-fatal lung disease TB when he was in his teens.

A spokeswoman for the Brits said: "A Brit is given to the person and it's their choice what they do with it. Tom can dedicate it to whoever he wants and say whatever he wishes in his speech.

"We would be more than happy if he chose to dedicate it to his mother."