Nashville International Airport, the main gateway to Tennessee's state capital and the heart of American country music, is set to be renamed in honour of Dolly Parton, following the singer's death last month at the age of 80. A unanimous vote by the state-controlled Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority on Friday formally directed the airport's chief executive to begin the renaming process. If completed, Parton would become the first woman to have her name on one of the United States' 50 busiest airports.
Parton died on 25 August after a brief illness, having sold more than 100 million records during a career that spanned decades and crossed cultural boundaries. Born in poverty in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in rural eastern Tennessee, she rose to global fame through songs such as "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You," and appeared in celebrated Hollywood films including "9 to 5" and "Steel Magnolias." Her appeal consistently transcended generational, geographic and political divides — a quality that is now being reflected in the bipartisan support for the renaming.
The unanimity of that support is particularly striking given the political context. Nashville's airport is currently governed by two competing authorities — one controlled by Tennessee's Republican state government and the other by the Democratic city administration — a situation that arose from a partisan dispute in 2023 and has since been mired in litigation. Yet both boards have expressed support for the renaming. "The FAA's going to get two votes from two boards, both in favour," said a spokesman for Democratic Mayor Freddie O'Connell. One state board member suggested that in the spirit of Parton, the two sides might "get beyond the litigation and get back to working together."
The push for the renaming was sparked in part by a public petition launched in 2025 by Lydia Popovich, a devoted fan, which gathered more than 175,000 signatures following Parton's death. Parton herself had long graciously deflected such honours during her lifetime — including a 2021 proposal to erect a statue of her on the Tennessee Capitol grounds, which she asked lawmakers to withdraw, saying she hoped it might happen "somewhere down the road several years from now, or perhaps after I'm gone."
Airport officials say the full renaming process could take a year or more, including negotiations with Parton's estate over matters such as the use of her name for merchandise. The exact form the new name will take has not yet been decided. "We expect to be able to share more definitive plans in the coming months," officials said. For Popovich, who wept after the Friday vote, the moment was both a tribute and a form of collective mourning. "She's the best of Tennessee," she said. "She was this magical person that provided light and guidance to all of us."