Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has announced plans to rename Nashville International Airport in honour of the late country music icon Dolly Parton, following an outpouring of public support after her death .
“Dolly Parton’s extraordinary life is forever woven into the fabric of our state. From her rural mountain home in East Tennessee to global stages, Dolly carried the Volunteer Spirit with her,” Lee said in a statement . “At a place where Tennessee welcomes the world, it is fitting that Nashville International Airport would bear the name of our state’s favourite daughter and greet travellers with the enduring legacy of Dolly’s music, generosity, faith, and kindness” .
The proposal will be discussed at the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority’s meeting on September 17 . If approved, Parton would become the first woman whose name adorns one of America’s 50 busiest airports .
The move follows a Change.org petition launched in January 2025, which had gathered over 164,000 signatures by Friday . The campaign gained renewed momentum after Parton’s death on Tuesday at age 80 following a brief battle with cancer at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville .
Parton’s team has expressed appreciation for the proposal and is open to discussions . The renaming could require the airport authority to revisit its policy, which states that properties should only be named for people who have been dead for at least two years .
Parton, a Tennessee native who rose from poverty in the Great Smoky Mountains, became a global icon known for hits such as “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You,” as well as her philanthropy through the Imagination Library literacy programme .
