Dolly Parton is donating $1 million toward coronavirus cure research.

The 74-year-old country icon has announced she is making a sizeable donation toward Vanderbilt's ongoing research into a cure for coronavirus - which is also known as COVID-19 - as the respiratory illness continues to spread across the globe and claim the lives of thousands.

In tweets posted on Wednesday (01.04.20), Dolly wrote: ''My longtime friend Dr. Naji Abumrad, who's been involved in research at Vanderbilt for many years, informed me that they were making some exciting advancements towards research of the coronavirus for a cure.

''I am making a donation of $1 million to Vanderbilt towards that research and to encourage people that can afford it to make donations. (sic)''

The charitable donation comes after the '9 to 5' hitmaker recently said she believes the coronavirus pandemic - which as of the time of writing has infected more than 924,000 people, and killed over 46,000 - is a ''lesson'' from God.

In an Instagram video, she sang: ''Well hello it's Dolly, climbing the stairway to heaven, because the virus has scared the h-e-l-l out of us.''

She then laughed: ''I'm not making light of the situation. Well, maybe I am, because it's the light, I believe that's gonna dissolve the situation.

''I think God is in this, I really do. I think he's trying to hold us up to the light so we can see ourselves and see each other through the eyes of love. And I hope we learn that lesson.''

And Dolly also assured fans people will be in a ''better'' place once the current situation is over.

She added: ''I think that when this passes, we're gonna all be better people. I know that I have a positive attitude about it, as negative as it seems to be right now. So just keep the faith, don't be too scared, it's gonna be alright, God loves us.''