Beyonce’s Father Matthew Knowles Reveals Rare Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Matthew Knowles, the father of pop stars Beyonce and Solange, revealed he was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The businessman took to his Twitter account on Tuesday to share a short clip from an interview with Good Morning America that is airing on Wednesday. In it, he sits down with host Michael Strahan and discusses what it was like for him to break the news to his family.
According to CNN, Knowles tweeted that he had a “special announcement” to make during his tell-all interview on October 1, the same day that Breast Cancer Awareness Month started. Breast cancer is known for affecting mainly women, with around 245,000 new cases being diagnosed every year in the United States, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, breast cancer can also target men, particularly those above the age of 60. About 2,200 men are diagnosed with the disease annually in the U.S. alone. As reported by CNN, around 41,000 women and 460 men die from it every year in America.
The 67-year-old used to be a Xerox salesman but soon rose to stardom in the 1990s after he put together the wildly successful group Destiny’s Child — which included his own daughter Beyonce and her pals Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Later on, he became his daughter’s manager when she parted ways with the girl band and launched her solo career in 2006. Knowles ended up managing Beyonce until 2011, when they amicably decided to stop working together.
.@MathewKnowles’ message for others after his breast cancer diagnosis: “I’m hoping by me coming here today, speaking out, letting folks know, that you can survive this but it has to be early detection and I can’t overemphasize the word early.” https://t.co/zMRJ4O03lS pic.twitter.com/pctiQAP4Y8
— Good Morning America (@GMA) October 2, 2019
“I’ve only parted ways with my father on a business level. He is my father for life and I love my dad dearly. I am grateful for everything he has taught me,” the Lemonade singer said at the time.
Knowles divorced the artists’ mother, Tina, that same year. He ended up remarrying and has since fathered two more children. He has also become a public speaker and an author in the meantime. Both his superstar daughters are rather private celebrities and have not spoken about their dad’s cancer battle.
Beyonce has made headlines for a different reason lately — one that has to do with her own child. The Lion King star has been engulfed in a legal battle to try to trademark her daughter Blue Ivy’s name since she has become “a cultural icon.” She is going up against a wedding planning company with the same name, accusing its owner, Wendy Morales, of trying to profit off her daughter’s name.
“[Morales] exhibited a pattern and practice of affirmatively attempting to connect its brand with Blue Ivy Carter to increase its exposure and drum up business,” court documents read.
