Tina Knowles, mother of Beyoncé and Solange, is opening up about her recent battle with breast cancer in a forthcoming interview with Gayle King on CBS Mornings. At 71 years old, the fashion designer shared that she was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer in her left breast after two tumors were discovered during a delayed mammogram.
“I’ve always tried to take care of myself. I just… was in disbelief,” she expressed. Although the American Cancer Society recommends women over 55-years-old to get a mammogram every one to two years, Knowles admitted that she had missed her routine screenings due to the COVID-19 pandemic and hadn’t rescheduled until last year.
Tina Knowles at Glamour’s 2024 Women of the Year held at The Times Square EDITION on October 8, 2024 in New York City.
Stephanie Augello/Variety via Getty Images
It was then that doctors found the two tumors — one benign and the other malignant. Knowles later learned that if she had kept up with her regular screenings, the cancer might have been detected at Stage 0 — a phase when the cancer hasn’t spread beyond the breast tissue.
Fortunately, the cancer had not spread and was deemed slow-growing. In August, Knowles underwent a lumpectomy to remove the tumor, and is now gratefully cancer-free.
The mother-of-two also shared how appreciative she was for Beyoncé, Solange, and some close friends who were by her side ahead of the surgery. “I was nervous,” she admitted. “And so they started just joking with me.” She recalled a moment when Solange lightened the mood by playing a viral video about the word “demure,” making her laugh and helping her relax. “I get out of my head… Then I said, ‘I’m just so happy that y’all are here.’ And I thought about the song ‘Walk With Me,’ which they used to sing all the time.”
Knowles recalled Solange and her niece Angie Beyincé singing the song to her, which she described as: “God walking with you into something and protecting you.” She tearfully added, “And I went in there feeling just like God has got me.”
Following her surgery, she frighteningly developed a post-op infection which caused her to nearly miss the Glamour 2024 Women of The Year event. More importantly, Beyoncé and her family urged her to rest. “Mama, you’re not yourself,” she recalled Beyoncé telling her. “Your health is more important. Don’t go.” Despite her circumstances, Knowles refused to let another moment go by where she didn’t claim recognition. “A lot of my life, I just refused to be recognized. I would never take an award,” she reflected. “I would never want the attention to me… and this was my saying, ‘I deserve this.’”
At the event, Knowles reflected on the unwavering support of her daughters, sharing how their presence always gives her strength. “That’s why when I said, you know, with them, I could get through anything, nobody knew what I was talking about,” she recalled her cryptic remark at the ceremony.
Tina Knowles’ full interview with Gayle Kings airs Wednesday (April 23) on CBS Mornings.
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