Jerry Hadley, 55, renowned tenor

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Jerry Hadley, 55, the world-class tenor known for his agile and lyric voice, died yesterday, a week after he shot himself in an apparent suicide attempt.

He died two days after doctors at St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie took him off life support, according to a family friend. Mr. Hadley shot himself July 10 at his home in Clinton Corners, 80 miles north of New York City.

The Illinois-born tenor built his reputation tackling demanding work, including the title role in John Harbison's 1999 The Great Gatsby at the Metropolitan Opera. Leonard Bernstein chose him to sing the title role in a 1989 production of his Candide, and he sang the lead in Paul McCartney's 1991 Liverpool Oratorio. He was featured in Leos Janacek's opera Jenufa, which won a Grammy in 2004.

"I particularly admired the strength and sweetness of his voice in the lyric Mozart parts and the imagination and commitment he brought to contemporary works," James Levine, Met music director, said in a statement.

Mr. Hadley started his career in regional companies. He was noticed in the late 1970s by Beverly Sills, then general director of the New York City Opera, which hired him.

In Philadelphia, he made appearances at the Mann Music Center and the Academy of Music. He also performed at Milan's La Scala, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, Berlin's Deutsche Oper, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the San Francisco Opera, and the festivals in Glyndebourne, England, Aix-en-Provence, France, and Salzburg, Austria.

Mr. Hadley in recent years had financial problems and was being treated for depression, police said.