Tina Knowles underwent a private battle with breast cancer last year.
“My doctor told me I had breast cancer. A small tumor in my left breast that was cancerous; the larger tumor in my right breast was benign, but it would also have to go,” Knowles, 71, wrote in her Matriarch memoir, released on Tuesday, April 22. “She said I was Stage 1A, assuring me my prognosis was good. The next step was to talk to an oncologist and a breast surgeon.”
She added: “I sat there in a daze, rubbing my neck. I immediately thought of my father, all those times taking him to chemo and how much cancer took from him. I had been through all of this stuff in life getting to be 70 years old, and now I’m gonna get cancer?”
Tina, the mother of Beyoncé and Solange Knowles, was diagnosed in July 2024 following a mammogram she had delayed for four years. She underwent surgery the following month. (Tina opted for a private practice specialist, getting the cancerous tissue removed along with a breast reduction.)
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Beyoncé, 43, took the news “well” and started to form a plan of action, Tina recalled.
“I could already feel her mind racing, focusing on this as a task to tackle with precision. She would find me the top specialist,” Tina wrote, noting that “my girls became my team.”
Following the surgery, Tina noted that she was “cancer-free” but there were still complications, which led to a second surgery in September 2024 to remove a hematoma. Her health battle continued with an infection that developed shortly thereafter, and Beyoncé put Tina’s health at the forefront of her mind.
“She insisted I put her on speaker during my consult in the exam room with the infectious disease specialist,” Tina wrote of her eldest daughter. “The doctor was impressed with her questions; I was impressed by her care.”
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She ended up receiving “round-the-clock” care.
Now, Tina is “doing great,” she shared during an interview with People on Tuesday.
“Cancer-free and incredibly blessed that God allowed me to find it early,” she told the outlet, explaining her decision to share her health struggles in the book.
“I struggled with whether I would share that journey because I’m very private. But I decided to share it because I think it’s a lot of lessons in it for other women,” she explained. “And I think as women, sometimes we get so busy and we get so wrapped up and running around, but you must go get your [mammogram]. Because if I had not gotten my test early, I mean, I shudder to think what could have happened to me.”
Matriarch is out now.
