Tina Knowles Has Message for Women as She Reveals Her Breast Cancer Journey

Looking back at Glamour’s 2024 Women of the Year event, Tina Knowles seemed on top of the world. She arrived dressed in an elegant, black Amsale suit featuring handcrafted orchid petals. She was ready: she had an award to collect and a powerful speech prepared. She wasn’t going to miss this event.

“My daughters have brought me such incredible joy and pride in my life far more than anything else,” she told the crowd at the time. “They are my crew, my tribe, my rocks, my ride-or-dies. They’ve been right there by my side through the lowest points of my life, and they have cheered me on at the highest points of my life, making me feel like I could conquer anything.”

Little did anyone know that she was suffering from a post-operative infection and had almost skipped the event. In an interview with People, Knowles talks about her breast cancer diagnosis that preceded the event. She also urges women not to forget their yearly check-ups.

Knowles Breaks Silence on ‘Private’ Health Issue

“I’m doing great, cancer-free, feeling great, and just feeling very incredibly blessed that God allowed me to find that early,” she told People. “I struggled with whether I would share that journey because I’m very private,” she said about including her diagnosis in her new book, “Matriarch.” “But I decided to share it because I think there’s a lot of lessons in it for other women.

“I wanted to make sure they [women] understand how important it is not to slack on your mammogram,” she added.

Knowles revealed that, like many other women, she missed her mammogram due to the pandemic. When she finally got it done, doctors found two tumors in her left breast. “I could’ve caught this at stage 0 if I had not missed my mammogram, but I did, because of Covid. They told me they would call me, they canceled my appointment, and told me they would call me. And that was in 2022. And I didn’t go, and as a result, it was stage 1. It could’ve been stage 0.”

“So you have to go get your mammograms,” she continued. “And that was a lesson in that.”

Beyoncé and Solange Were Her ‘Team’ Amid Cancer Battle

Knowles also reflected to Gayle King on developing an infection after having the lumpectomy. Glamour’s Women of the Year event was approaching, and she really didn’t want to miss it.

Mama, you’re not yourself,” Knowles recalled Beyoncé saying. “And so she was like, ‘Your health is more important. Don’t go.'”

But Knowles had spent her life avoiding recognition. She was excited about this award — especially after dealing with breast cancer. “A lot of my life, I just refused to be recognized. I would never take an award. I would never want the attention to me … and this was my saying, ‘I deserve this,'” she said.

Knowles discussed how her girls, Beyoncé and Solange, along with Kelly Rowland and niece, Angie Beyince, became her support system. “My girls became my team,” she wrote. Solange provided positivity, telling her, “Mom, we are going to take care of this.” Beyoncé also “took it well, staying positive, and I could already feel her mind racing, focusing on this as a task to tackle with precision.”