Tennessee governor says he backs airport name change to honor Dolly Parton

Bill Lee says he favors proposal to rename Nashville’s international airport after legendary country singer

Bill Lee, the Tennessee governor, on Friday said he favored a proposal to rename Nashville’s international airport after legendary country singer Dolly Parton , who died three days earlier at age 80.

In a statement , Lee said he and the managers of the airport in Tennessee’s capital city – where Parton resided – wanted to create “a lasting tribute to her indelible legacy and the generations of people she inspired”. He said he had spoken previously to the 11-time Grammy winner and her team, who were “touched by the idea”.

“Dolly Parton’s extraordinary life is forever woven into the fabric of our state,” Lee said, noting that Nashville airport is where Tennessee welcomes the world.

He added: “It is fitting that Nashville International Airport would bear the name of our state’s favorite daughter and greet travelers with the enduring legacy of Dolly’s music, generosity, faith, and kindness.”

The proposal was scheduled to be addressed at a meeting of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) on 17 September. A statement from Doug Kreulen, MNAA president, said the Nashville airport shared Parton’s understanding that “dignity, kindness and opportunity should never be defined by where you come from or your socioeconomic status”.

“Whether you are boarding a private aircraft or taking your first flight, you deserve to be welcomed, respected and served with the same level of care,” he remarked.

Parton had requested a private funeral for immediate family, and there is not going to be any public memorial. She will be buried beside her husband, Carl Dean, at Nashville’s Woodlawn memorial park and mausoleum.

The singer told Entertainment Weekly in 2014 that she expected Whitney Houston’s rendition of I Will Always Love You to be part of her service. Parton also said she wanted an old gospel hymn, If We Never Meet Again, which was her father’s favorite.

In a video statement announcing her death on Tuesday, Parton’s nephew Bryan Seaver, her longtime head of security, remarked: “Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because, after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest.”

Lee discussed the proposal to rename Nashville’s airport after a plane tugging a banner urging the name change buzzed over the Tennessee state capitol on Friday. A petition was also launched, and it has since gained more than 150,000 signatures.

“Everybody is looking for a way to honor Dolly and her legacy,” petition organizer Dan Dion told the Tennessean . “Our airport is so important, and there’s symbolism in flying into Parton Airport. With Dolly’s message of love, acceptance, music, kindness, humor and all these things, people feel that she is representative of what Tennessee truly is.”

If it comes to be, renaming Nashville airport will be at least the second airport in a matter of months to make a switch. Palm Beach airport was recently renamed for Donald Trump, with mixed reactions from travelers and locals about naming the facility after the president.

Freddie O’Connell, the Nashville mayor, hinted that the proposed name change is only the start of metropolitan tributes in the city. He said the 9 to 5 and Jolene singer had been in the process of developing a hotel and museum called SongTeller “that she called her love letter to Nashville”.

“Now it’s our turn to share a love letter to Dolly – by renaming Nashville International Airport to Dolly Parton International Airport in Nashville,” O’Connell told the Tennessean.

He also said the city was “working closely” with Parton’s team and family “on appropriate public recognition”.