Nashville International Airport to be renamed after Dolly Parton
Music professor on how Dolly Parton improved our world
A music professor says Parton’s songwriting and vocal style brought attention to women’s empowerment, LGBTQ+ acceptance and working-class life. (Credit: Annika Socolofsky, University of Colorado Boulder via AP, WFLD)
It’s official: Nashville International Airport will be named after Tennessee native daughter and country legend Dolly Parton.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Nashville International Airport announced the news Friday, days after Parton’s death.
Dolly Parton International Airport
What they're saying:
"At a place where Tennessee welcomes the world, it is fitting that Nashville International Airport would bear the name of our state’s favorite daughter and greet travelers with the enduring legacy of Dolly’s music, generosity, faith, and kindness," Lee said in a statement.
Dolly Parton attends Dolly Parton's Threads: My Songs In Symphony World Premiere at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on March 20, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
Lee said he’s already discussed the idea with representatives for Parton.
RELATED: Petition to rename Nashville airport after Dolly Parton gains traction
The announcement will be welcome news to the 150,000-plus fans who signed a Change.org petition this week asking for the airport to be named in Parton’s honor.
Dolly Parton’s legacy
The backstory:
Parton died Tuesday at 80 years old following a brief battle with cancer.
Born in poverty in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, Parton became an icon whose popularity crossed generational, geographic and political boundaries. In addition to writing and recording hit songs such as "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You," she starred in Hollywood films including "9 to 5" and "Steel Magnolias."
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It’s hard to name a more adored artist than Parton. In 2015, when Parton returned to Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ole Opry announcer Bill Cody introduced her as "the most beloved artist of all time."
She was known as much for her charity work as she was for her music, movies and Tennessee theme park, Dollywood.
Dolly Parton dead: Nashville airport name change petition
Lydia Popovich and Dan Dion are the two behind the petition to change the name of Nashville International Airport (BNA) to honor the life and legacy of country legend Dolly Parton. They joined LiveNOW's Josh Breslow to discuss the reasoning behind it.
In 1988, she launched the Dollywood Foundation, originally designed to combat high school dropout rates. Its early ‘90s Buddy Program paired junior high students in Sevier County and gave $500 to each if they both finished high school. In 2016, when wildfires ravaged her native Great Smoky Mountains, the foundation announced it would give $1,000 each month for six months to families who lost their homes. The following year, it was revealed the foundation’s My People Fund helped 900 families with roughly $9 million in the first six months after the fires.
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In 1991, she launched a sanctuary for bald eagles that couldn’t survive in the wild; in 2000, she started a college scholarship giving $15,000 to five high school seniors in Sevier County. In 2020, she donated $1 million to COVID-19 research at Vanderbilt University, which helped fund Moderna’s vaccine.
Best known is her Imagination Library, founded in 1995. Parton’s father was illiterate; it inspired her to launch an organization providing books to those without resources. By 2025, she had given away over 200 million books to children in need.
"I hope I’ll be remembered as somebody that tried to do some good in the world," she told The Associated Press in 2024. "And left, you know, a few good things behind."
The Source: This article includes information from Nashville International Airport, The Associated Press and previous FOX Local reporting.