Tina Knowles Describes Beyoncé’s Reaction to Her Breast Cancer: ‘I Could Already Feel Her Mind Racing’

Tina Knowles, the matriarch of the Knowles family and mother to global superstars Beyoncé and Solange, has opened up about her recent battle with breast cancer. Known for her strength, style, and unwavering support of her daughters’ legendary careers, Tina is now using her voice to raise awareness and encourage early detection. Here’s what she said about how her daughters reacted to the surprise diagnosis.

Tina Knowles described Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s reaction to her breast cancer diagnosis

Tina Knowles is the proud mother of singing sensation Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Beyoncé’s sister, Solange Knowles. Her new book, Matriarch, gives insight into the lives of the Knowles family as Beyoncé and Solange rose to fame. Beyoncé famously started with Destiny’s Child, and Tina rolls back the curtain on the ins and outs of her daughter’s time in the girl group.

Tina’s also in the spotlight for another reason: She’s shedding light on her stage 1 breast cancer diagnosis. In July 2024, doctors discovered the cancer in her left breast. Tina told People she missed her initial scheduled mammogram due to coronavirus (COVID-19) cancellations.

“I forgot that I didn’t go to get my test two years before I thought I had because Covid came, and they called me and canceled me, and they said, we’ll call you when we start testing again,” she said. “And I just thought I had done it. So you cannot play around with that.”

In Matriarch, Tina described how her daughters reacted to the news of her breast cancer. Beyoncé “took it well, staying positive, and I could already feel her mind racing, focusing on this as a task to tackle with precision.” Solange also approached it positively and said, “Mom, we are going to take care of this.” Beyoncé and Solange’s cousin, Angie Beyincé, and Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland, also stood by Tina through her fight.

“My girls became my team,” Tina wrote.

After surgery, she’s now cancer-free. “I’m doing great,” she said. “Cancer-free and incredibly blessed that God allowed me to find it early.”

The ‘Matriarch’ writer said Beyoncé ‘gets really mean’ backstage

Beyoncé encouraged her mother, Tina Knowles, through Tina’s breast cancer diagnosis and recovery. And while Beyoncé clearly has a nurturing side, Tina peeled back the curtain on some of her daughter’s tendencies backstage.

“You know, we laughed about this recently, because I was saying, ‘Girl, you get really mean back there,'” she said on Sherri.

Tina explained how she used to help with her daughter’s quick changes. However, she’s no longer on that duty. Tina poked fun at her daughter, as Beyoncé admitted to being a pain in the morning.

“And the evening, too!” Tina confirmed. “After we get off, she’d say, ‘Momma, I’m so sorry.’ And I’m like, ‘I know.'”

Tina Knowles explained how she raised her daughters to stay humble and gracious

Tina Knowles’ daughters, Beyoncé and Solange, are remarkable women who will go down in entertainment history. While speaking to SLF Network, she explained how she raised her girls to live humbly and successfully.

“I think one of the main things is just to teach them from a very early age that their only competition in life is themselves,” Tina said. “And, to just always be grateful, and to be graceful, and to have gratitude and humility.”

The Matriarch writer explained how she didn’t initially want her children to go into the performing arts. “But once I saw the passion and how talented they were, I tried to encourage them in everything they did,” she said. “But I always taught them to have a sense of humility and gratitude, because, you know, nothing is promised to you. And I just felt like it was such a blessing that God gave them just to make them appreciate that.”

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