He died a few days ago.

CNN: Van Cliburn, the classical pianist honored by a New York ticker-tape parade for winning a major Moscow competition in 1958, died Wednesday after a battle with bone cancer, his publicist said.

"He died peacefully in his Fort Worth, Texas, home ... surrounded by loved ones," spokeswoman Mary Lou Falcone said.

Cliburn, 78, won the International Tchaikovsky Competition months after the Soviet Union stunned Americans with the successful launch of Sputnik I, the first man-made satellite to orbit the Earth. His victory swelled U.S. pride when it was near a Cold War low.

When his illness was made public last August, Falcone said "His spirits are high."

"Van Cliburn was an international legend for over five decades, a great humanitarian and a brilliant musician whose light will continue to shine through his extraordinary legacy," she said Wednesday. "He will be missed by all who knew and admired him, and by countless people he never met."

He was credited with improving cultural relations between the two superpowers. Cliburn toured the Soviet Union several times through the 1960s during the height of tensions.

Cliburn, considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, performed for every U.S. president since Harry Truman, according to his official biography.

I remember when Van Cliburn made a guest appearance on an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies.  :)