Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, reveals a cancer scare in 2024 that she and her famous daughters fought as a team in private.
Knowles shudders to think what could have transpired last year had the tumors in her breasts had not be detected early — especially after the matriarch had missed a mammogram appointment on a previous occasion.
The famous mother discussed these and other intriguing topics on “CBS Mornings” and with People magazine as she makes the media rounds in promotion of her book, Matriarch: the Memoir.
Tina Knowles missed a mammogram appointment
After having a scheduled mammogram appointment canceled during the coronavirus pandemic, the 71-year-old Houstonian (born and raised in nearby Galveston before moving) appeared for her very next appointment and the physicians found a pair of tumors.
As Knowles explained to the two outlets, the first tumor was diagnosed as benign. But the second one, located in her left breast, was stage 1 cancer.
“I forgot that I didn’t go to get my test two years before I thought I had,” Knowles explained to People, “because Covid came and they called me and canceled me and they said, ‘We’ll call you when we start testing again.’ And I just thought I had done it. So, you cannot play around with that.”
Knowles said the aggressive tumor was found early
Luckily, the doctors explained to Knowles that the second tumor had not yet spread to other parts of her body. But she explained how important it is for women to make their scheduled mammogram appointments — the exams can literally save your life.
“I struggled with whether I would share that journey [in the book] 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,” Knowles told People. “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 test. Because if I had not gotten my test early, I mean, I shudder to think what could have happened to me.”
Beyoncé, Solange, and Kelly Rowland rallied around Tina Knowles
The superstar mom’s daughters — Beyoncé, 43, Solange, 38, and “bonus” daughter Kelly Rowland, 44 — calmly rallied around her. “My girls became my team.” Together with the surgeons and personal physician, they came up with a game plan to fight the disease.
Knowles said Queen Bey “took it well, staying positive, and I could already feel her mind racing, focusing on this as a task to tackle with precision.” Solange told her, “Mom, we are going to take care of this.”
In the aftermath of that personal ordeal, Knowles notes that “I didn’t know that there was a stage 0. I could have caught this at stage 0 if I had not missed my mammogram,” during the pandemic. In the end, “I want to show people you can go through that and still be fly.”
Tina Knowles uses her experience to inspire others
Today, as she embarks on her media tour for her memoir, she assures fans that “I’m doing great. Cancer-free and incredibly blessed that God allowed me to find it early.”
Given a second chance, Knowles explained, “I’m healthier, eating better, I lost weight.”
She wants to use this scary experience as a model to inspire others.
“I want to give people hope,” Knowles adds. “What scares me now is not making the best of every day that I have left in this life.”
