Tina Knowles revealed the how she prevented Beyoncé and Solange Knowles from nearly becoming rivals as children.
The proud mother, 71, opened up about raising two superstars and recalled how she tried to save her daughters after she noticed ‘a wall between them coming.’
When her daughters Beyoncé, 43, and Solange, 38, were just children, prior to them reaching astronomical levels of fame, she said she turned to something ‘really taboo’ to mend a rift growing between them.
She said that her two daughters ‘were very, very different’ during an interview with CNN News Central’s Sara Sidner, which aired on Friday.
Knowles said she was ‘terrified’ when she noticed that other kids would start leaving out Solange but Beyoncé ‘would allow them to talk to her like that.’
The author, who released her memoir Matriarch on April 22 and revealed a secret tragedy that still haunts her family, said she turned to therapy because she wanted to ‘forge’ their sisterly bond.
Tina Knowles, 71, revealed the how she prevented Beyoncé, 43, and Solange Knowles, 38, from nearly becoming rivals as children
The proud mother opened up about raising two superstars and recalled how she tried to save her daughters after she noticed ‘a wall between them coming’; seen in March
She said she was determined despite her then-husband Mathew Knowles’s objections as he believed they were ‘too young for you to do that.’
She was married to her daughters’ father from 1980 until 2011, divorcing him after 30 years together.
He previously managed Destiny’s Child as well as the solo careers for both Beyoncé and Solange.
Even though she said Beyoncé ‘hated’ therapy and Solange ‘loved’ it, Knowles said her two daughters grew closer afterwards.
The fashion designer recalled how she noticed the change when her daughters were very early in their entertainment careers and becoming child stars.
When Beyoncé was just age nine, she formed Destiny’s Child, initially called Girl’s Tyme, with her friends.
‘I was terrified when Beyoncé turned around 10,’ Knowles told the outlet.
‘She might have been 10 or 11, and she was in the singing group. And the kids would say to Solange every day, “Be quiet, Solange,” because she would try to choreograph and, you know, she wanted to be involved,’ she recalled.
When Beyoncé and Solange were just children, prior to them reaching astronomical levels of fame, she said she turned to something ‘really taboo’ to mend a rift growing between them; pictured 2008
Knowles said she was ‘terrified’ when she noticed that other kids would start leaving out Solange but Beyoncé ‘would allow them to talk to her like that’; pictured 2006 in Chicago
The author, who released her memoir Matriarch on April 22, said she turned to therapy, whcih was ‘taboo’ at the time, because she wanted to ‘forge’ their sisterly bond; pictured 2007
‘She bossed it, too. And they didn’t want her involved,’ Knowles added.
‘And then I started noticing that Beyoncé would allow them to talk to her like that or she would say, “OK, Mom, can you get Solange out of here? Because she is…”
‘And I’m like, “Wait a minute, this is her house, and you’ve got to be nice to her,”‘ she said.
‘And I told her all the things, you know, how important it was for her. But finally, I realized that they weren’t listening, and I saw a wall between them coming, and so I got them in therapy.’
Though it was considered ‘taboo’ at the time, Knowles said she forged forward.
‘And I’m like, “I’m not asking. I’m going to find somebody.” And I found this wonderful therapist, child therapist,’ she recalled.
‘And it’s funny because he told Beyoncé all the things I had told her, but she listened from him, even though she hated therapy. She hated going. Solange loved therapy. She loved talking and, you know, expressing herself.’
The proud mother continued: ‘And the outcome was great. It was really great because they had been super tight since.’
It comes after Tina revealed her secret cancer battle in a candid on-camera interview.
She said she was recently diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer after doctors discovered two tumors during a mammogram appointment.
Tina said her daughters supported her through the horrific time by lifting her spirits at hospital appointments.
‘I was nervous,’ she told Gayle King on CBS Mornings. ‘And so they started just joking with me.’
Tina was determined despite her then-husband Mathew Knowles’s objections as he believed they were ‘too young for you to do that.’ The proud mom recalled: ‘And the outcome was great. It was really great because they had been super tight since’; pictured July 2002 in Los Angeles
The fashion designer recalled how she noticed the change when her daughters were very early in their entertainment careers and becoming child stars. When Beyoncé was just age nine, she formed Destiny’s Child, initially called Girl’s Tyme, with her friends; pictured 1998
Knowles said Solange also played a viral video about the word ‘demure’ to cheer her up at one point.
‘I start laughing. I get out of my head… Then I said, “I’m just so happy that y’all are here”,’ she said about the touching moment.
Knowles said Solange and her niece Angie Beyincé also sang the song ‘Walk With Me’ to her before one of her surgeries.
‘It’s about God walking with you into something and protecting you,’ Knowles said through tears. ‘And I went in there feeling just like God has got me.’
Knowles added that although she’s recovered from the cancer, she suffered significant hurdles along the way.
She told CBS Mornings she contracted a post-surgical infection so bad that she almost bailed on Glamour’s 2024 Women of the Year event in October.
Knowles said Beyoncé in particular urged her to rest rather than attend the event – but she pushed through because it was important to her.
‘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 also revealed that her cancer might have been caught sooner if she hadn’t delayed her mammogram appointment.