Pavarotti keeps up with the Jones

Welsh crooner Tom Jones and American rhythm and blues icon Barry White sang under the stars to help tenor Luciano Pavarotti raise money at a charity concert.

Actor Michael Douglas and his wife Catherine Zeta Jones - in a glamorous floral print gown - were among many celebrities appearing under the sky on a hot spring evening in Modena, Italy.

The legendary Italian tenor dedicated his eighth ‘‘Pavarotti and Friends’’ concert, which was broadcast nationwide last night, to the cause of Afghan refugees.

Ruud Lubbers, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, announced that the UN would bestow a humanitarian award on Pavarotti next month for giving ‘‘great visibility to the cause of refugees’’.

Jones, introduced by Welshwoman Zeta Jones, sang his big hit Sex Bomb and left the audience ecstatic.

Pavarotti and White then joined in a duet of You’re My First, My Last, My Everything.

British singer Morcheeba had to restart her rendition of Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day when she and the Pavarotti orchestra got out of synch.

Douglas had started the evening with an appeal for help for the Afghan refugees, saying that if Pakistan could strain its resources to host hundreds of thousands of them, donors around the world should be able to help.

In his Pavarotti and Friends concerts, the renowned international tenor has sung with such stars as Sting, The Spice Girls and Celine Dion to raise money for the victims of war.

Tonight’s concert was also under the auspices of the UNHCR, which said Pavarotti would receive his award June 20 on World Refugee Day.