Tina Knowles is tracing the throughline of Beyoncé and Solange’s success

NEW YORK (AP) — Many of Tina Knowles’ fondest childhood memories are of sitting under a pecan tree as her mother recited the history of their family, stretching back generations. Now, the mother of Beyoncé and Solange has given her own story to the world with “Matriarch: A Memoir,” out this week.

“Beyoncé and Solange have been busy since they were little kids working, and Kelly (Rowland). … I’ve told them stories, but I don’t even know if they really listened,” said the 71-year-old Knowles. “When you’re young, it’s very few people that want to hear those stories about old times.”

At 59, Knowles began recording voice notes of that history — adding in her contributions — after contemplating her mortality following her divorce from Mathew Knowles after a three-decade marriage. The recordings were meant only for her grandkids and future great-grandchildren, before eventually becoming the book's foundation.

The 432-page Oprah’s Book Club selection explores a vast range of topics, including her enslaved great-grandmothers, her entrepreneurial spirit, the Houston childhoods of Beyoncé and Solange, her infidelity-plagued first marriage, Destiny’s Child's struggle to get a record deal, and the blatant racism her family experienced navigating a segregated United States. (She was once allowed to briefly sit in the front of a whites-only bus as a child, disguised by her fair skin tone.)

But you won’t find juicy details from the protective mother; there’s no mention of the infamous 2014 Met Gala elevator incident between Jay-Z and Solange, or of Kanye West taking the mic from Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV VMAs in his attempted defense of Beyoncé. This is Celestine Beyoncé's story — not her children's — still intriguing and very personal, revealing she was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer last year. She had initially left it out of the book.

“I just wanted to keep it to myself … as I went through that process of getting the surgery and all of that, there were things that I felt that I needed to share,” said Knowles, who is now cancer-free after surgery and treatment, and urges women to make mammogram appointments and get second opinions.

Knowles, who next month will launch a nine-city book tour that will include conversations with famous friends like former first lady Michelle Obama and Tyler Perry (she also hints at “family” joining her at some stops), spoke with The Associated Press about receiving due credit, regrets as a parent and finding happiness. Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.

KNOWLES: I gave a lot of people credit for things — and I’m fine with that — but this is all about my truth.

I definitely feel like I was a driving force, and I can say that now without feeling like — I was taught as a kid to just be super humble and to not ever brag. … I think I’ve dimmed my light for so long, I don’t want to do it anymore.

KNOWLES: I don’t think that’s important, because from that time, everyone has flourished and just moved on from that. And I just choose to focus on the positives in life. … I don’t feel like it’s a need to harp on those things. I don't want to talk about them.

KNOWLES: Solange has been a speaker of truth since she was little … she was the one that was in my case all the time. ’Cause she’s like, “Mom, you’re just so irresponsible when it comes to school.”

I just felt like that was healing for me to talk about it. Because people think ... you're trying to be the perfect mother, and definitely, I was screwing up just like everybody else. And so, I was really wanting to be honest about my shortcomings.

KNOWLES: Some of them can be detrimental, and I go into detail about that because I realize that a teacher telling me that Beyoncé was slow in kindergarten and that she needs to repeat the grade and it’s December — that woman could have messed up my child’s life. We wouldn’t even have a Beyoncé today if I had listened to her.

You gotta fight for your kids. I hope that lesson came through loud and clear. … That was important to me because I see a lot of parents that don’t, and my mom didn’t protect me.

KNOWLES: By the time I finished the book and I was ready to share it with them, both of them were on these really crazy schedules and I just didn’t want them to feel, “Oh, I got to stop and go read a book.” So, I sent them all of their parts and they approved the parts.

KNOWLES: No. They were in agreement with everything.

KNOWLES: Your life, whatever it is, cannot just center around everyone else but you. And it took me a long time — I had to be 59 years old before I realized I deserve to be happy. And I deserve to have the things that I deserve, and not feel bad about it, not feel guilty about it.

I’m going to live my life — live my best life, as the kids say.

Follow Associated Press entertainment journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton at @GaryGHamilton on all his social media platforms.

Tina Knowles poses for a portrait on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Tina Knowles poses for a portrait on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Tina Knowles poses for a portrait on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Tina Knowles poses for a portrait on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Investigators were questioning a family member of director-actor Rob Reiner and his wife Michele after they were found dead at their home in Los Angeles, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.

Investigators believe they suffered stab wounds, said the official, who could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Los Angeles Police had not identified a suspect, Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton, the chief of detectives, said at a briefing on Sunday night.

“We are going to try to speak to every family member that we can to get to the facts of this investigation,” Hamilton said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said it responded to a medical aid request shortly after 3:30 p.m. and found a 78-year-old man and 68-year-old woman dead inside. Reiner turned 78 in March.

Detectives with the Robbery Homicide Division were investigating an “apparent homicide” at Reiner’s home, said Capt. Mike Bland with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Los Angeles authorities have not confirmed the identities of the people found dead at the residence in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on the city’s west side that’s home to many celebrities.

Reiner was long one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood, and his work included some of the most memorable movies of the 1980s and ’90s, including “This is Spinal Tap,” “A Few Good Men,” “When Harry Met Sally” and “The Princess Bride.”

His role as Meathead in Norman Lear's 1970s TV classic “All in the Family,” as a liberal foil to O’Connor’s Archie Bunker, catapulted him to fame and won him two Emmy Awards.

Relatives of Lear, the legendary producer who died in 2023, said the deaths left them bereft.

“Norman often referred to Rob as a son, and their close relationship was extraordinary, to us and the world,” said a Lear family statement. “Norman would have wanted to remind us that Rob and Michele spent every breath trying to make this country a better place, and they pursued that through their art, their activism, their philanthropy, and their love for family and friends.”

Messages to Reiner's representatives were not immediately returned Sunday night.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called it a devastating loss for the city.

“Rob Reiner’s contributions reverberate throughout American culture and society, and he has improved countless lives through his creative work and advocacy fighting for social and economic justice,” Bass said in a statement. “An acclaimed actor, director, producer, writer, and engaged political activist, he always used his gifts in service of others.”

The son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner was married to photographer Michele Singer Reiner since 1989. The two met while he was directing “When Harry Met Sally” and have three children together.

Reiner was previously married to actor-director Penny Marshall from 1971 to 1981. He adopted her daughter, Tracy Reiner. Carl Reiner died in 2020 at age 98 and Marshall died in 2018.

Killings are rare in the Brentwood neighborhood. The scene is about a mile from the home where O.J. Simpson’s wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were killed in 1994.

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Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed.

LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton speaks near Rob Reiner's residence Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

FILE - Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner arrive on the red carpet at the State Department for the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner, Dec. 2, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)

FILE - Rob Reiner arrives at the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network's Respect Awards, in Beverly Hills, Calif., Friday, Oct. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

A police officer blocks off a street near Rob Reiner's residence Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

FILE - Honoree Rob Reiner, second left, poses with his wife Michele, left, and children Nick, center, Romy, and Jake at the 41st Annual Chaplin Award Gala at Avery Fisher Hall, April 28, 2014, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)