-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Famed tenor Luciano Pavarotti , who died on Thursday at the age of 71 , was one of opera 's most adaptable and ebullient performers , appearing on stage with singers as varied as Dame Joan Sutherland , U2 's Bono and Liza Minnelli . Much as the star power of Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov revived widespread interest in classical ballet in the 1970s and 1980s , Pavarotti 's beaming charisma and bravura style captured the attention of the late-20th-century audience for opera . Widely considered the greatest tenor of his time , Pavarotti began his life modestly in Modena , the son of Fernando , a baker and amateur singer , and Adele , who worked at the local tobacco factory . `` I dreamed to become a singer when I was four and I hear my father singing in the church with a beautiful tenor voice , '' he told CNN in a 1991 interview . `` And I say to myself , well , let 's try to do something . '' The young Pavarotti -- who played soccer with his town 's junior team -- joined the church choir with his father and traveled with him to Wales , where the singing group won first prize at the Llangollen International singing competition . Although the experience left Pavarotti enthralled with singing , he graduated from the local teaching institute in 1955 and taught elementary school for two years , then worked as an insurance salesman . He continued his vocal studies , however , working first with with Arrigo Pola and then with Ettore Campogalliani . Then , in 1961 , Pavarotti won the prestigious Concorso Internazionale and made his operatic debut at the Reggio Emilia Theater as Rodolfo in Giacomo Puccini 's `` La Boheme . '' His fame spread throughout Italy and then throughout the European continent as he made his international debut in Giuseppe Verdi 's `` La Traviata '' in Belgrade . When Dame Joan Sutherland brought him on-stage with her during a performance of Gaetano Donizetti 's `` Lucia di Lammermoor '' with the Greater Miami Opera in 1965 , Pavarotti began his American career . He debuted at New York 's Metropolitan Opera House three years later , and eventually marked 379 performances there , including his final opera , Puccini 's `` Tosca '' in 2004 , in which he performed as the painter Mario Cavaradossi . In between Pavarotti sold millions of records and raised millions of dollars for charity through benefit concerts , often sharing the stage with pop stars as well as other opera singers . Of his recordings , 1990 's `` The Essential Pavarotti '' was the first classical album to reach No. 1 on Britain 's pop charts , where it remained for five weeks . 1994 's `` The Three Tenors in Concert , '' with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras , remains the best selling classical album of all time . Pavarotti joined with Domingo and Carreras in 1990 , and although critics complained that Pavarotti 's vocal skills were waning , the trio performed together for 14 years . Among his charities were a 1995 `` Concert for Bosnia '' that raised $ 8.5 million and other concerts that raised $ 3.3 million for refugees from Afghanistan and $ 1 million for refugees from Kosovo . In artistic terms , Pavarotti brought to the stage a voice neatly suited to the traditional bel canto , or `` beautiful singing '' style , essential to 17th-century Italian opera . As much about intensity as pitch , bel canto focuses the voice , concentrating the sound with both outstanding warmth and agility . So demanding is this work even of the best singers that Pavarotti in concert recital could be seen rising to the balls of his feet during the most challenging passages . A long , white handkerchief always hung from one hand as he sang , his eyebrows arched high in the effort , forming an expression seemingly of surprise at his own success . From his small beginnings , Pavarotti rose to great heights , performing in front of 500,000 people in New York 's Central Park -- a concert seen by millions on television -- and before another 300,000 at Paris ' Eiffel Tower . He won countless awards and honors -- including five Grammies -- and was named United Nations Messenger for Peace by then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan . He launched an international competition , The Pavarotti International Voice Competition , in 1982 . He even founded a teaching facility for young singers in his home town . His signature aria , Puccini 's `` Nessun Dorma '' from `` Turandot , '' was chosen as the theme music for the 1990 soccer World Cup , hosted by Italy . He also performed the aria at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin . The great singer was also known as an equestrian expert , organizing one of the international show jumping circuit 's most important competitions , the Pavarotti International , in Modena . Coinciding with that event , Pavarotti also staged an annual charity concert , Pavarotti and Friends . The portly singer retired from staged opera in 2004 , but was on a `` farewell tour '' of concerts when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006 and underwent emergency surgery to remove the tumor . Although the remaining concerts of his tour were canceled , his management said that he hoped to resume the tour in 2007 . When cancer finally stopped Pavarotti from singing , it was only the second interruption of his career . `` I think I just stopped for one year when from a kid I become a man and the voice is changing , '' he said in 1991 . `` I was an alto and became a tenor and that is the only time I think I remember to have stopped singing . Otherwise I have sung all my life . '' E-mail to a friend CNN 's Porter Anderson contributed to this report .