Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, is opening up about her health.
In her new book, “Matriarch: A Memoir,” which was released on April 22, Knowles revealed she was previously diagnosed with breast cancer. Knowles said she learned of her diagnosis at a mammogram appointment that had been put off for years.
“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,” she wrote in her memoir.
“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. ‘We feel like we got this super early,’ she said. ‘You’re going to be fine,’” Knowles continued.
Knowles said she hesitated telling Beyoncé about her diagnosis at night because she knew her daughter “wouldn’t be able to sleep” so she waited until the day to share the news.
“She took it well, staying positive, and I could already feel her mind racing, focusing on this as a task to tackle with precision,” she said of how Beyoncé reacted to her breast cancer diagnosis.
“She would find me the top specialist, and I distinctively remember her telling me, ‘I want you to get a second opinion on whatever the course of treatment is,’” Knowles added.
Knowles explained that her daughter “lined up one of the top breast surgery specialists in the country” for her to get a private consult. She recalled liking the private-practice breast surgeon’s “energy” immediately. A few days later, she met with a hospital surgeon and then a hospital oncologist, who “wasn’t receptive” to any of her questions and she made her feel “depressed and confused.”
This experience is what made Knowles realize the importance of getting a second opinion.
“I made my decision: I wasn’t going with the hospital surgeon who talked down to me, I went with the private surgeon, the woman who gave me options and hope. She recommended a different oncologist at the hospital, one who she thought would be a better fit for me,” she said.
“That is the lesson I want to share: Even if I had gone with the hospital surgeon, I could have asked for another oncologist,” Knowles continued. “A lot of people, especially Black people, feel they have to go with the doctor they are given even if we are not treated well. You deserve second opinions, and it’s your opinion that sets the decision.”
After the surgery, which also included a breast reduction, Knowles wrote that she was cancer-free. She said she moved into Beyoncé’s house so her family could take care of her while she recovered.
“The Carter household is always bustling with activity,” she said.
Knowles said she recovered in time to attend Glamour’s 2024 Women of the Year event in October, where she was receiving an award. It when then, while she was accepting the accolade and seeing her daughters’ faces in the audience, that she realized that she was having a “full-circle moment.”
“‘They are my crew, my tribe, my rocks, my ride-or-dies,” Knowles recalls saying of her daughters during her speech. “‘They have been right there by my side at the lowest points in my life... and they cheered me on at the highest points of my life. Making me feel that I can conquer anything.’”
“Matriarch: A Memoir” is the latest selection to be chosen for Oprah’s Book Club. In a press release shared on April 22, Oprah Winfrey praised Knowles’ new book.
“Some of you might know Tina Knowles as the mother of a superstar — as in Beyoncé — but she is also a highly successful entrepreneur, fashion designer, philanthropist, and now author of this fascinating memoir of her journey to become the global figure she is today,” she said.
“We learn how the strength and wisdom of the women who came before her fueled Tina’s passion to achieve and gave her the ability to nurture her own daughters into the incredible women they are today,” Winfrey added.
In the same release, Knowles shared her excitement over Winfrey endorsing her book.
“Getting the seal of approval from Oprah, and knowing that she read it and loved it, made it all OK,” she said in a statement. “I mean, it’s Oprah!! She is the queen of many things but definitely the quintessential queen of books. Being told that my book would be a pick for her book club, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven.”
