Beyoncé’s Mom, Tina Knowles, Drops Bombshell About Secret Cancer Battle

Tina Knowles is opening up about a private health scare that rocked her world, and now she’s sharing it to inspire women everywhere.

The 71-year-old mother of Beyoncé and Solange made a powerful appearance on "CBS Mornings Tuesday," revealing for the first time that she was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer.

The diagnosis came last year after skipping a routine mammogram during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’ve always tried to take care of myself. I just … was in disbelief,” Tina told Gayle King.

Tina, who admitted she forgot to reschedule her screening after it was canceled during the pandemic, finally went in for a mammogram, and that’s when doctors found two tumors in her left breast. One was benign. The other wasn’t.

In August, the "Matriarch" author underwent a lumpectomy to remove the cancerous tumor and is now officially cancer-free.

“I was nervous,” she said of going into surgery, but added that Beyoncé, Solange, and close friends rallied around her. “My girls became my team.”

In another emotional interview, this time with People Magazine, Knowles shared that she initially struggled with whether to include the experience in her memoir.

"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," she said. "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."

She also opened up about how her daughters handled the diagnosis with strength and support.

Beyoncé “took it well, staying positive,” while Solange told her, “Mom, we are going to take care of this.”

Bonus daughter Kelly Rowland and niece Angie Beyince were also by her side, providing strength as Tina faced surgery and recovery.

The designer and grandmother of four says she’s now healthier, lighter, and more energized, and she’s still got style.

“I want to show people you can go through that and still be fly,” she said with a smile.

While Tina does not carry the BRCA gene mutation, her ex-husband Mathew Knowles, Beyoncé and Solange’s father, previously battled stage 1 breast cancer and carries the BRCA2 gene, which increases cancer risk.

“I’m doing great,” Tina confirmed. “Cancer-free and incredibly blessed that God allowed me to find it early.”

She’s now using her voice to raise awareness and give women hope, admitting, "What scares me now is not making the best of every day that I have left in this life.”

Fresh off her secret breast cancer battle and recovery, the 71-year-old mom of Beyoncé and Solange was honored at Glamour’s 2024 Women of the Year event in October. But now, she’s sharing that a serious post-surgical infection nearly kept her from attending the celebration.

Knowles, who underwent surgery for stage 1 breast cancer in August, developed complications during recovery that left her drained. It was so bad that her family, especially daughter Beyoncé, stepped in.

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

Despite the push to rest, Knowles said the award held deep personal meaning, especially after the health battle she’d just survived. “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.

And she showed up, glam and glowing, to accept the honor.

During her emotional remarks at the event, Knowles alluded to her private struggle and praised her daughters for being her rock throughout the ordeal. “That’s why when I said, you know, with them, I could get through anything, nobody knew what I was talking about,” she said.