Tennessee governor backs plan to rename Nashville airport after Dolly Parton

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has said he supports a proposal to rename Nashville's international airport after country music legend Dolly Parton, who died three days earlier at age 80.

In a statement, Lee said he and airport managers wanted to create a lasting tribute to Parton's legacy and the generations of people she inspired. He noted he had already spoken with the 11-time Grammy winner and her team, who were touched by the idea. Lee said Nashville's airport is where the state welcomes the world, making it fitting that it would carry the name of Tennessee's favorite daughter.

Decision expected in September

The proposal is set to be discussed at a Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority meeting on 17 September. MNAA president Doug Kreulen said the airport shares Parton's belief that dignity, kindness and opportunity should not depend on where someone comes from or their economic status.

Parton had requested a private funeral for immediate family only, with no public memorial planned. She will be buried next to her husband, Carl Dean, at Nashville's Woodlawn memorial park. In a 2014 interview with Entertainment Weekly, she said she wanted Whitney Houston's version of I Will Always Love You played at her service, along with the gospel hymn If We Never Meet Again, a favorite of her father's.

Banner flight and petition

Lee addressed the renaming idea after a plane towing a banner calling for the change flew over the Tennessee state capitol. A petition supporting the renaming has since gathered more than 150,000 signatures. Organizer Dan Dion said the airport carries symbolic weight, reflecting Parton's message of love, acceptance and kindness.

If approved, the change would make Nashville's airport at least the second in recent months to be renamed, following Palm Beach airport's recent renaming after President Donald Trump, which drew mixed reactions.

Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell said the city is working closely with Parton's family and team on further public recognition, including a hotel and museum project called SongTeller that the singer had been developing before her death.