Nashville Airport to Be Named After Dolly Parton, Board Confirms in Unanimous Vote

NASHVILLE—The city’s international airport will be named after country star Dolly Parton, a board decided Friday on a unanimous vote.

During a special session, the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority voted 6–0 to start the process.

“This vote represents the first step in a multifaceted process,” the board said in a statement. “In the coming months, we anticipate having more definitive plans to share.”

The official name to honor the Smokey Mountain Songbird has not been determined.

“We are working closely with the appropriate parties to thoughtfully determine how Dolly Parton’s name and legacy will be incorporated,” the board added.

A petition to name Nashville’s airport after the “9 to 5” singer intensified after Parton’s family revealed she had died at the age of 80 in late August after a brief battle with cancer.

Fans of the Tennessee native flooded an online petition to rename the airport after the “Jolene” singer, which received over 175,000 signatures and the support of Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.

Lee announced on Aug. 28 that he and the Nashville International Airport intended to change the name to honor her.

“Dolly’s transcendent spirit and talent may have moved upward, but now is the time when we transcend any political and cultural differences to come together to honor this iconic woman who selflessly gave so much to so many,” Dan Dion, one of the co-starters of the online petition, told The Epoch Times.

Another petition starter, Lydia Popovich, told The Epoch Times that the singer’s legacy will live on far beyond the airport.

“How can we shine without her light? The truth is Dolly has dispersed the magic,” Popovich said.

“It’s in the butterflies, the wildflowers, and on the breath of the children reading the words aloud of their first book,” said Popovich, referring to Parton’s Imagination Library, which gave books to children.

“She has left us everything we need. She’s taught us all the ways to be a good person. It’s on us to live up to her legacy. Be more. Dream more.”

When the petition was started on Change.org in January 2025, Parton was asked for her thoughts about it.

“I’m very flattered,” she told Gayle King in an interview last year on “CBS Mornings,” according to a post shared by Change.org. “I think that’s just a joke. I don’t think anybody’s all that serious about that.”