‘In disbelief’: Tina Knowles, Beyoncé’s mom, reveals cancer battle

Tina Knowles, the mother of music stars Beyoncé and Solange, has openly shared her experience fighting breast cancer. She revealed that her diagnosis at first left her “in disbelief.”

As reported by OK Magazine and The Sun, the 71-year-old fashion designer and businesswoman shared details of her journey in her new memoir, Matriarch, which was published on April 22, 2025, as well as in later interviews. Knowles’s cancer journey started when she put off a mammogram appointment.

She said the delay was due to the COVID-19 pandemic and forgetting to reschedule. She finally went for the screening in 2024. What seemed like a routine checkup led to a life-changing discovery when doctors found two tumors in her left breast. One was noncancerous, but the other was cancerous. This led to a stage 1A breast cancer diagnosis.

Beyoncé’s mom, Tina Knowles, had cancer

The diagnosis came in July 2024, just as she was finishing her memoir. The months that followed were filled with both fear and determination. In August 2024, Knowles had a lumpectomy, a surgery to remove the cancerous tumor. While the operation was successful, she later developed a serious infection that almost kept her from attending Glamour’s 2024 Women of the Year event in October, where she was being honored, per Page Six.

Beyoncé, noticing her mother wasn’t well, urged her to focus on her health rather than the ceremony. However, Knowles chose to go anyway, seeing it as proof of her strength and recovery. Throughout this difficult time, Knowles had constant support from her daughters. Beyoncé stayed positive, while Solange offered comforting words of encouragement.

Even though there was no family history of breast cancer or the BRCA gene, her family came together to give her the emotional and practical support she needed during treatment.

Knowles said, “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… 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.”

The American Cancer Society has specific guidelines for mammogram screenings based on age. Women between 40 and 44 should consider starting yearly mammograms, while those aged 45 to 54 should get screened yearly. Women 55 and older can choose to have mammograms every two years or keep getting them yearly, depending on their overall health and life expectancy.

Knowles made sure to write about the importance of understanding what mammograms can and cannot detect in her book. “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,” she said.