Dolly Parton ProfileIt’s official: in late August, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Nashville International Airport (BNA) put forth the proposal to rename the Nashville airport after country music icon Dolly Parton.
The proposal was heard during a Metro Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) meeting on Thursday, 17 September, and passed by a unanimous vote. That was the first step in the process.
Local outlet WSMV reported that the authority hadn’t yet determined a final name for the airport, but it will “work with appropriate parties to decide how Parton’s name and legacy will be incorporated.”
The proposal moved forward after the Metro Nashville Airport Authority made an exception to its current policy that properties are renamed after influential figures only after they’ve been dead for at least two years. More details are expected to arrive soon.
It's official! The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority Board of Commissioners voted unanimously, 6 to 0, to modify our existing naming policy, marking the first step toward renaming Nashville International Airport® in honor of Dolly Parton. pic.twitter.com/e1N7oF6PBo
— Fly Nashville (@Fly_Nashville) September 11, 2026
With the impending renaming, the Nashville International Airport will be the sole American airport named after a woman.
“Dolly Parton’s extraordinary life is forever woven into the fabric of our state,” Tennessee Governor Bill Lee recently told PEOPLE.
He continued, “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.”
In a social media statement, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell added, “Dolly was in the process of working with us on a remarkable hotel and museum — SongTeller — that she called her love letter to Nashville. Now it’s our turn to share a love letter to Dolly — by renaming Nashville International Airport to Dolly Parton International Airport in Nashville.”
The push to rename Nashville International Airport Dolly Parton International Airport followed renewed interest in a Change.org petition that launched last January but has picked up “reinvigorated” votes since Parton’s passing. The petition amassed over 175,000 signatures.
Dolly Parton passed away on Tuesday, 25 August, following a “brief battle” with cancer, her representatives confirmed. She was 80.
