Petition to Rename Nashville Airport After Dolly Parton Nears 127,000 Signatures as Lawmakers Pledge Action
Nearly 127,000 people have signed a petition to rename Nashville International Airport — known by its code, BNA — after Dolly Parton, who died on Tuesday, 25 August 2026, at age 80 from cancer. The campaign, which began as a smaller effort over a year ago, has drawn support from elected officials and at least one fellow musician in the days since Parton's death. Billboard
Nashville comedian Lydia Popovich launched the original Change.org petition in early 2025. She told Billboard it had gathered roughly 50,000 signatures before Parton's passing. That number more than doubled within days. At least three separate petitions on the platform now seek the same renaming, started by different organisers. Billboard
Tennessee State Senator Todd Warner has pledged to introduce legislation that would change the airport's name to Dolly Parton International Airport. Warner posted his commitment directly on the petition's page on 26 August. At the city level, Nashville City Council member Russ Bradford said he would sponsor a resolution asking the Metro Nashville Airport Authority to consider the rename. Change.org
Bradford noted that his resolution functions as a statement of support from the Metro Council, but that the final decision rests with the Airport Authority — the body that operates BNA. Billboard
Singer Sheryl Crow has publicly endorsed the renaming effort, adding a high-profile voice to the campaign. New York Post
Parton's ties to Tennessee were deep and decades long. Born in Sevier County in the Great Smoky Mountains, she built a career that spanned country, pop and film, and channelled much of her earnings back into the state. Her Imagination Library programme, which mails free books to children from birth to age five, has distributed more than 250 million books worldwide since its launch in 1995. The Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, opened in 1986, remains one of Tennessee's largest tourist draws.
Following her death, Nashville International Airport honoured Parton by lighting its parking garages in pink through the weekend. Billboard
For now, the petitions continue to collect signatures and the proposed legislation has not yet been filed. Change.org, the platform hosting the campaigns, describes itself as an independent, nonprofit-owned service funded by its members, with no advertising or shareholders. Whether the Airport Authority takes up the proposal will determine whether BNA becomes Dolly Parton International — or remains, for now, the airport that lit its garages pink in her memory.
