Nationwide — Beyoncé’s 71-year-old mom, Tina Knowles, has opened up about her past relationships, sharing her journey of love, heartbreak, and healing in her new memoir Matriarch. She says every experience brought her to where she is today. “Everything that happened in my life has happened to bring me to this point in my life,” Knowles told People.Knowles said she didn’t initially plan to reveal much about her first marriage to Mathew Knowles but realized she needed to tell the full story. They married in 1980, but problems started early, mainly because of Matthew’s infidelity. Tina remembers trying to save the marriage, even while she was pregnant with their second daughter, Solange.
“The marriage was deteriorating faster than I could possibly find ways or even reasons to make it work — even with the pregnancy,” she wrote. “I had gotten used to these extremes — incredibly joyous half the time as we shared life’s adventure, then being disgusted and heartsick over how brazen his cheating could get.”
Despite the rocky marriage, they worked together to support Beyoncé and Solange’s rise to fame. Tina designed looks for Destiny’s Child and helped define the group’s style, then later guided her daughters’ solo paths.
Still, the cycle of betrayal continued. She said, “I was caught in this dance with him, each doing the same steps over and over: He would cheat or act up, and I would say I’d had enough. He would beg for forgiveness, crying and promising to get better… But this is what married people did, I told myself.”
In 2009, Tina found out through the media that Matthew had fathered a child outside their marriage. She ended the relationship soon after. They divorced in 2011 after 31 years together. Tina says she first felt like a failure, but later found peace and healing.
She remarried actor Richard Lawson in 2015, but they separated in 2023. Reflecting on her life, Tina calls it a “rollercoaster” filled with both hardships and joy, and says she wouldn’t change a thing.