The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority Board of Commissioners has unanimously approved plans to rename Nashville International Airport after the late country music icon Dolly Parton, following a six to nil vote on Friday.

Parton, celebrated worldwide as the Queen of Country, died in Nashville in August at the age of eighty after a brief battle with cancer, a loss that was felt deeply across the music world and beyond.

While the board has not yet settled on a final name for the airport, it confirmed it is working closely with the relevant parties to determine how best to incorporate Parton’s name into the facility.

In a statement following the vote, the board expressed gratitude for what it described as overwhelming support and enthusiasm from the Nashville community and Parton’s fans around the globe, adding that further details would be shared as plans are finalised.

Doug Kreulen, chief executive of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, said Parton’s legacy stood as a reminder of what makes the city special, its openness to people from every walk of life, and described that spirit as a fitting reflection of the values she shared with Tennessee and the wider world.

Friday’s vote represents the first formal step in a bureaucratic process that was set in motion by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee weeks earlier, after he moved to rename the airport in her honour.

The push to attach Parton’s name to the airport had, in fact, predated her death by more than a year, with a petition launched in January 2025 that gathered over one hundred and sixty thousand signatures by the time of the board’s vote. The renaming effort also drew backing from members of the Nashville City Council and the Tennessee state legislature. An exact budget for the rebranding has not yet been announced, though officials have pointed to the cost of similar projects elsewhere, including the several million dollar price tag attached to the recent renaming of Palm Beach International Airport, as a possible guide for what lies ahead.

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