In 2020, Dolly Parton gave $1 million to Covid research, becoming a vaccine icon

Dolly Parton, renowned country music artist and philanthropist, donated $1 million towards COVID-19 vaccine research in April 2020. The donation was made to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, in collaboration with Moderna, which later developed a widely-used coronavirus vaccine. Parton made the donation without knowing her contributions would be linked to vaccine confidence efforts.

She emphasized that her donation was limited and that she was merely following her heart. Parton's net worth was estimated at $450 million at the time of her passing. Her philanthropic efforts spanned disaster relief and medical research, including contributions to pediatric infectious-disease research at Vanderbilt.