This week, matriarch and music royalty Tina Knowles graced the cover of PEOPLE‘s World’s Most Beautiful issue, but her purpose for taking center stage was more than superficial. In a candid interview with the publication, 71-year-old Knowles revealed that she is battling breast cancer, and urged readers to take their yearly checks seriously, spreading awareness for how quickly the widespread cancer can take over your life.
Tina Knowles Urges Followers to Get Checked: ‘I shudder to think what could have happened to me’
As she revealed to PEOPLE this week, the mother to Beyoncé and Solange Knowles discovered she had stage one breast cancer last July, not long after Beyoncé made waves with the launch of her debut beauty brand, Cécred. “It’s important not to slack on your mammograms,” the memoir author began. “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 told the outlet. “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.”
Despite the fact that Knowles says there is no history of breast cancer in their family and that she was not found to have the genes predisposing one to breast cancer herself, Knowles found herself dealing with stage one breast cancer and opted for surgery to remove the early-stage tumor as well as a breast reduction. Thankfully Knowles says she’s now cancer-free and feeling good. “I’m doing great,” she told PEOPLE. “Cancer-free and incredibly blessed that God allowed me to find it early.”
