Tina Knowles, the mother of global superstar Beyoncé, has opened up for the first time about her breast cancer diagnosis, sharing the emotional journey in her newly released memoir, Matriarch: A Memoir.
Knowles revealed that she discovered the cancer during a long-overdue mammogram, where doctors found a small cancerous tumour in her left breast. A larger tumour in her right breast was deemed benign but still required removal.
“My doctor told me I had breast cancer,” Knowles wrote. “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.”
Knowles waited until the day of her diagnosis to break the news to her daughter, Beyoncé. She described the singer’s calm and focused reaction, noting how Beyoncé immediately sprang into action.
“She took it well, staying positive,” Knowles recalled. “I could already feel her mind racing, focusing on this as a task to tackle with precision. She told me, ‘I want you to get a second opinion on whatever the course of treatment is.’”
Beyoncé eventually secured a private consultation for her mother with one of the top breast surgery specialists in the U.S.
Following surgery, which also included a breast reduction, Knowles confirmed that she is now cancer-free.
Her memoir sheds light not only on her personal health scare but also on the strength of the bond between mother and daughter during life’s most challenging moments.
