Dolly Parton revealed she felt compelled to help out in the fight against coronavirus because she "knew something bad was on the rise." Parton, who helped fund research to bring Moderna's coronavirus vaccine to fruition, opened up about her decision in an interview published Tuesday with U.K.'s Absolute Radio. "When the pandemic came out, I just felt kind of led to do something because I knew something bad was on the rise, and I just wanted to kind of help with that, so I donated to help with that," the country music singer said during the interview. "Mine was a small part, of course." Dolly Parton donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University back in 2020 for coronavirus vaccine research.The subsequent research directly contributed to the.