Republicans and Democrats have been at odds for years over control of Nashville airport, but Dolly Parton has achieved something unusual in Tennessee politics: bringing them together. State and local authorities support that Nashville International Airport be renamed after one of the most universal artists born in the state.
The board of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority controlled by the state government unanimously approved this Friday to formally initiate the process to change the airport's name. The goal is for it to eventually become Dolly Parton International Airport, although the modification will not be immediate and there are still administrative and technical procedures to complete.
A unanimous vote to begin the change
The decision made by the airport board tasks the airport's executive director to begin working on the name change process. Officials estimate that completing all the procedures could take a year or even more.
One of the pending issues will be negotiating with Parton's legacy representatives the use of her name and image. The discussions could include everything from the new visual identity of the facilities to how to manage the revenues derived from official products related to the new name of the airport.
The Republican governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee, had already announced on August 28 his intention to promote the tribute. His administration then stated that it had spoken with Parton's team, which expressed gratitude for the displays of affection and openness to continue discussions about a permanent distinction.
Democrats also want the Dolly Parton airport
The support does not come solely from the Republican government of Tennessee. Freddie O'Connell, the Democratic mayor of Nashville, also supports the change, as does the airport board linked to the municipal authorities.
The Metro Council of Nashville had already unanimously approved at the beginning of September a resolution requesting that the airport adopt the singer's name. The initiative received support without partisan distinction, although that vote was politically supportive and did not itself change the name of the facilities.
The coincidence is especially significant because Republicans and Democrats have been engaged in a tough political and judicial battle for years precisely over who controls Nashville airport.
Two councils opposed over the same airport
The conflict dates back to 2023, when a dispute between the state government dominated by Republicans and the Nashville City Council, controlled by Democrats, ended up generating an extraordinary situation.
Currently, there are two rival structures claiming authority over the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority: one linked to the State of Tennessee and the other to the city. The courts have been modifying over the years who has effective capacity to control the agency.
The reform approved by Tennessee modified again in 2026 the composition of the governing bodies of the metropolitan and regional airport authorities, within an institutional battle that remains open.
However, the name of Dolly Parton has managed to temporarily erase those differences. Both councils are in favor of renaming the airport, so even from the City Council, they joke that the Federal Aviation Administration will receive the same message from the two opposing structures.
A petition surpasses 175,000 signatures
Civic pressure began long before the institutions reached an agreement.
The admirer Lydia Popovich launched in 2025 a petition to turn the airport into the Dolly Parton International Airport. The campaign had garnered tens of thousands of supports, but experienced enormous growth after the singer's death on August 25.
The initiative already surpasses 175,000 signatures, according to Associated Press. Popovich personally attended the meeting where it was approved to initiate the name change and celebrated the result with emotion.
Parton's death, at the age of 80, triggered a wave of tributes in Tennessee and across the United States. The airport itself illuminated part of its facilities in pink during the following days.
Dolly Parton had rejected tributes in life
The proposal also has a particularity. Dolly Parton was usually reluctant to receive some of the major public tributes that were proposed in her honor while she was alive.
In 2021, legislators from Tennessee promoted an initiative to raise a statue of her on the grounds of the state Capitol. The singer herself requested that it be removed because she considered that it was not the right time. However, she left open the possibility that it could be done years later or after her death.
This attitude explains why the promoters of the name change have now sought the collaboration of her family and the people in charge of managing her legacy.
From a humble family in Tennessee to a global symbol
The cross-party support is also understood by the particular position that Parton occupied for decades in American culture.
Born in Sevier County, Tennessee, she developed a career that made her one of the great international figures of country music, but her popularity widely transcended that genre and the political divisions of the country.
Her musical career was complemented by intense philanthropic activity. Through the Dollywood Foundation and her Imagination Library, she launched a program that has distributed hundreds of millions of free books to children in different countries to promote reading from an early age.
Governor Bill Lee has defined her as a figure whose legacy is inseparably linked to Tennessee and considers it especially symbolic that the main airport in Nashville, the city known worldwide as Music City, welcomes its travelers under her name.
She could be the first woman to name one of the 50 major airports in the US
If the process culminates, Dolly Parton could become the first woman whose name identifies one of the 50 airports with the highest traffic in the United States, according to Associated Press.
The current Nashville International Airport is also an infrastructure in full expansion. In 2024, it generated an estimated economic impact of 13.8 billion dollars, sustained around 80,000 jobs, and contributed about 2.1 billion in federal, state, and local taxes, according to data released by the airport authority itself.
For now, travelers will continue landing at the airport internationally identified by the code BNA, which would not necessarily have to be modified even if the commercial name changes.
What does seem to have disappeared is the main political obstacle. Tennessee Government Republicans and Nashville Democrats can continue litigating over who is in charge of the airport, but both agree on who should name it: Dolly Parton.