Tina Knowles, mother of Beyoncé and Solange, talks to Michel Martin about her new memories: NPR

Tina Knowles at The Billboard Women in Music 2025 was held at YouTube Theater on March 29 in Los Angeles, California.

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Before Tina Knowles became the strength behind the scenes helping to stylize and guide her daughters Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Solange Knowles, she owned a beauty shop. She liked to cook and take care of her family and friends, and she broke to help other people realize their dreams.

Now, in a new book entitled, Matron, Knowles highlights herself with the inner history of the way she helped her daughters reach rare peaks of celebrity as cultural artists and icons.

Michel Martin de NPR recently talked about Washington DC with Tina Knowles, who was in a studio in Los Angeles. Knowles spoke of growing up in Texas, his relationship with his ex and his daughters, Mathew Knowles and the importance of sharing history for future generations.

This interview was slightly modified for length and clarity.

Michel Martin: Can I call you Ms. Tina?

Tina Knowles: Of course.

Martin: I had trouble describing your book. It tells the story of black entrepreneurship, how you and your former husband, Mathew Knowles, have built your business and it is also the story of mothers – being a mother, the mothers we had, those we want to have. It’s a lot. And I was wondering, when you started writing this book, is that what you started or did it become that?

Knowles: You know, I was actually going to write a book behind the scenes of things with my career in the world of music, but it came from me once I started writing. It was as if I just wanted to tell my story.

Martin: One of the things I got from the book was how much you had to fight to allow girls to express their style. There was a magazine shoot where they wanted to put Beyoncé’s hair in a bun, and you said to yourself: “They are not going to put your hair in a bun. Why should her hair be in a bun? And also, Maxwell was in the same cover of cover. It was at a point where people who know Maxwell know that he had this crown of hair which was somehow his signature, but they wanted him to put a hat. And you said to yourself, “Don’t let them put you on a hat”. You have removed her hat and you chose her hair.

Knowles: RIGHT. I remove his hat. I didn’t even know him, but he looked sad. And so I went and said, “Why do you look so sad?” And he said: “Oh, they made me put this hat. “And I removed it and I took my choice and I started choosing her hair. But Maxwell and I were connected that day, and we are really good friends.

Martin: It happened again and again. And in fact, one of the music companies spoke to your ex, Mathew Knowles, who was their manager, and said you are holding the girls.

Knowles: Well, they just did what they knew. And they felt like four black girls, black girls in Texas with big hair and very modown costumes were not, it was not that. They were right, it was not the style at the time. There were all these pop icons that had huge careers, and they felt like they should look like them and they should wear jeans and high offices. And they were like: “It’s so Motown is so exaggerated.” But we liked it above. We were from Texas. They looked different. And I think it was refreshing for the public because in the meantime, people came all the time saying: “We can’t wait to see what you are going to have afterwards.” And a game seemed a little crazy. I mean, I look at him as now that we are looking at him now. We were like, what do we think? But it was this time.

Martin: Well, how did you get CHUTZPAH? It is not a word from Texas. I’m coming from New York, so I’m going to say it. The Chutzpah to say to these people: “that’s what they want to wear”.

Knowles: I will tell you that I was a kind of casual person behind the scenes. A little, I wouldn’t say shy, but when it was my daughters, I was a beast. As most mothers are, you know, the mother bear comes out and I would bring out the badass Tenie B. And I would resist people.

Martin: Who is Badass Tenie B?

Knowles: Badass Tenie B was this little girl who had to protect herself from the nuns and the message that I was not enough and that I did not belong and I had to fight. So I had no problem saying that it is who they are, that is what they like and people would be: “Oh, God, who is the mother of someone who comes here trying to tell me my work?” But I fought for that. I fought with people and I’m really proud of it.

Martin: You write a lot about your relationship with your ex in the book. It is in motion and he is deep and he had to be difficult to write. All-out and out and out and off. And I would say that for people who have not yet had the chance to read the book, you are not getting won. You talk about the ways you have participated.

Knowles: Well, it takes two people to be in a relationship. And I’m just, for so many reasons, I stayed in this relationship longer than I should have. But he was the first person of my life to really say, I will not say the first, but the second person who told me that I could do anything and always said: “Oh, you have this, you can do it.” It has always been my biggest cheerleader and it is difficult to abandon.

Martin: Have your daughters had comments or readings in the book? Did they get a montage?

Knowles: They did not read the book. They only read their parts.

Martin: Interesting.

Knowles: Parties in which they are involved. They are a little busy.

Martin: So how do you feel now that you have put your story, that you have it on paper and that is there for the world?

Knowles: It’s a bit frightening. It’s a bit frightening, I tell you. Sometimes I wake up and I say to myself: “Do I really do that?” You know, it’s a big problem because you open up. But it is important for me to tell my own story, especially in my family, because there have been so many stories and so much speculation. And I just think that everyone should write their history for their children and grandchildren and their great-great-grandchildren. I would have liked to have that of my mother.

This story was produced for the web by Majd al-Waheidi.