A Change.org petition to rename Nashville International Airport after Dolly Parton surged past 100,000 signatures within a day of the country icon's death, and a Tennessee lawmaker says he plans to make it official.
Parton died August 25 at age 80 after what her family described as a brief cancer battle. Within hours, a petition that had lingered online for more than a year with roughly 53,000 signatures began collecting new names by the second. By Wednesday, the total had doubled, the New York Post reported, with more than 50,000 new supporters joining in a single day.
Tennessee state Rep. Todd Warner responded on the petition page with a direct pledge. He wrote:
"I will definitely introduce legislation to rename the BNA airport Dolly Parton International Airport!"
No legislation has been formally introduced yet, and no official response from the airport authority or state government has been reported. But the speed of public support, and a sitting lawmaker's public commitment, has moved the idea from internet sentiment into something closer to a real political question.
Warner's enthusiasm for renaming Nashville's airport is not new. In January 2025, he introduced a bill to rename it "Trump International Airport." That measure failed in a lopsided 5-12 vote.
After that bill went down, Warner pivoted. He endorsed the Parton petition, which had launched on Change.org that same month, acknowledging that his Trump proposal had "went down in flames." He told supporters he had received "numerous" emails requesting the Parton dedication and said he would back a name change if the opportunity came.
Parton's death gave him that opening. His pledge on Wednesday carried more weight than a casual endorsement, it was a specific commitment to introduce a bill, posted publicly on the petition itself.
Parton was born east of Knoxville and became a superstar in Nashville, the city whose airport now bears her supporters' ambitions. Her personal life carried layers of meaning most casual fans never knew, but her public identity was inseparable from Tennessee.
Fellow country artist Sheryl Crow threw her support behind the petition during an appearance on Katie Couric's Instagram livestream on Tuesday, the same day Parton's death was announced. Crow told viewers:
"People are talking about trying to get the Nashville airport... changed to the Dolly Parton International Airport. I'm like, 'Yes! I think we should.'"
Crow's endorsement added a prominent Nashville voice to a campaign that had, until that point, been driven by anonymous online supporters. The petition itself had sat at around 53,000 signatures for roughly a year and a half, gaining only a few thousand names since its creation in January 2025.
Parton had been dealing with health problems in the months before her death. She had spent five days in a Nashville hospital before she passed, and earlier had stepped back from public appearances after doctors raised concerns about her condition.
An updated message on the petition captured the grief driving the signature surge. It read: "On August 25, the world lost an angel. It's difficult to imagine a world without our Dreamer-In-Chief. How are we going to be okay without her magic to keep us safe? How can we shine without her light?"
The update continued: "Since her passing, tens of thousands of additional supporters have visited and signed this petition. The outpouring of support has reinvigorated our mission."
Individual petition signers left comments that reflected what Parton meant beyond the music. One wrote: "Dolly Parton represents the heart of Tennessee and the heart of its music. Naming Nashville International Airport in her honor would welcome visitors from around the world with a name that immediately says welcome! Know we love ya!"
Another signer called her "one of the sweetest and dearest singers, and not only that, a role model to so many. Undeniably an icon and after all that she has given us, the least we can do is name something in her honor."
Parton had retreated to her Nashville estate amid her health struggles in her final months, largely withdrawing from the public eye. Even so, the petition's language suggests supporters saw the renaming as something larger than a memorial, a permanent stamp on the city she helped define.
She also left behind creative work that won't see daylight for years. Parton's final song remains locked in a Dollywood time capsule until 2045, a detail that speaks to how carefully she managed her own legacy.
For all the momentum, major hurdles stand between a viral petition and a new name on the terminal. The legislative process required to rename a state-associated airport in Tennessee remains unclear from available reporting. Which body, the state legislature, the city of Nashville, a regional airport authority, or some combination, holds final authority over the name has not been addressed publicly.
Warner has the floor to introduce a bill, but his track record on airport naming is 0-for-1. His Trump proposal did not just fail, it lost by a wide margin. Whether a Parton bill would draw broader support is an open question, though the political dynamics are obviously different. Naming an airport after a universally beloved entertainer who just died carries fewer partisan liabilities than naming one after a sitting president.
No official from Nashville International Airport has weighed in publicly, at least not in any reporting so far. The airport's silence leaves open the possibility that the institution itself has reservations, or simply hasn't been asked yet in any formal way.
Dolly Parton gave Tennessee more than music. She gave it an identity that people around the world recognized and respected. If the state's lawmakers are serious about honoring that, they have 100,000 signatures and a clear path forward. The only question is whether they'll follow through, or let the petition collect dust the way it did for the first eighteen months of its life.
