Dolly Parton’s legacy is immortalized as Tennessee seeks to rename Nashville airport after late icon
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Dolly Parton's legacy could soon expand as it has been revealed that Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Nashville International Airport are seeking to name the travel hub in her honor.
In the wake of the country music icon's death on Tuesday at age 80, Lee said he has spoken to Parton’s team about the proposal.
According to Page Six, Parton's representatives showed appreciation for the gesture and said they are open to the idea, per a press release from Lee and the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority.
Should it come to fruition, the the renaming of the transportation center will further cement the star's legacy.
'Dolly Parton’s extraordinary life is forever woven into the fabric of our state,' the governor declared in the statement. 'From her rural mountain home in East Tennessee to global stages, Dolly carried the Volunteer Spirit with her.'
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 favorite daughter and greet travelers with the enduring legacy of Dolly’s music, generosity, faith, and kindness.'
Dolly Parton's legacy could soon expand as it's been revealed that Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Nashville International Airport are seeking to name the travel hub in her honor; pictured in 1978
In the wake of the country music icon's death on Tuesday at age 80, Lee said he has spoken to Parton’s team about the proposal
There's been a heap of calls to rename the airport after Parton, with a Change.org petition called Rename Nashville International Airport to Dolly Parton International Airport so far collecting 163,130 signatures.
It was first launched in January 2025, and has picked up steam amid the beloved singer's death.
The campaign has also caught the attention of Tennessee officials including State Rep. Todd Warner, who wrote on the petition page that he would introduce legislation supporting the name change.
'Yes I will definitely introduce legislation to rename the BNA airport Dolly Parton International Airport! Thanks, TW,' he wrote.
Nashville Council member Russ Bradford also got behind the movement, agreeing to sponsor a resolution asking the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority to consider the change.
'I’m proud to sponsor a resolution asking the Metro Nashville Airport Authority to consider renaming BNA to Dolly Parton International Airport,' he said, per Change.org.
The proposal to rename the airport will be discussed at the Metro Nashville Airport Authority’s upcoming September 17 meeting, the press release disclosed.
Throughout her career, Parton was instrumental in donating hundreds of millions of books to children via her Imagination Library.
She also donated $1 million to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in April 2020, which funded research that helped create a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
Throughout her career, Parton was instrumental in donating hundreds of millions of books to children via her Imagination Library; pictured in December 2022
The songstress pictured onstage during the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas in March 2022
Parton's death was confirmed in a video posted on Instagram by her nephew Bryan Seaver, who served as her head of security.
She passed away after being admitted on Friday to Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center with autoimmune and kidney problems, according to TMZ.
It was later revealed that the music legend had a brief battle with an undisclosed form of cancer.
Four days before her death, she told People she had 'so many things I want to achieve,' including launching a new hotel and museum in Nashville.
'This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,' Seaver said in the clip.
He lauded his aunt for having 'lived in the light' and said she was now 'in the arms of Jesus' and the company of her late husband Carl Dean, as well as her parents and 'countless others who have watched her and longed to meet her in the heavens.'
