Tina KnowlesThe mother of the superstars of world music Beyoncé And Solange opens with his personal relationship with his mother, details on her divorces, his own parenting and the group of Destiny’s Child girls.
Knowles, a businesswoman, fashion designer and ancient stylist by Destiny’s Child, tells her life story in her memories, “Matron,” Where she reveals a complicated but loving relationship with her own mother, whom she described as “overprotective” and “frightening”.
At one point, Knowles said she wanted to be herself a singer and was even in a group of girls known as Velts.
“I wanted to be a singer, but you know, this small town was so large and there were no singers there and that is what my mother said. My mother, as you know, as much as I liked and she wanted the best for me, she would have done anything so that I was a singer, she really had no hope.”
She told “CBS Mornings” the co-host of Gayle King in an exclusive interview that this aspect of her education influenced the way she has a parent.
“I was going to trust my children and even if I never thought I was friends, but I wanted to trust them,” she said, adding that she wanted them to know that heaven was the limit when it was a question of realizing their dreams.
“Because my parents put me limits. Not because they wanted it, because they didn’t want me to be disappointed or injured,” she said. “I told my daughters that all the time, you could be whatever you want to be. You could do what you want to do and I will be there to help get there.”
Impact on parenting
Knowles spoke to King about the difference of his daughters. She said that a teacher recommended Beyoncé to repeat a note at school. Knowles said that now a world superstar, Beyoncé was shy and calm until she knows people.
“Never hesitated around us,” said Knowles. “At home, she was entertaining. She sang, she danced and she did everything I did.
A former teacher told Knowles in her assessment that Beyoncé was a brilliant student.
“I took her to Mrs. Little. … was an ex-teacher there who was very severe, but she said:” There is nothing wrong with this girl. This girl is very brilliant. She doesn’t care to let you know. “”
Conversely, Knowles described Solange as “very outgoing” and “would enter the room and said to me:” Yes, I’m here. “”
When Beyoncé and Solange were 12 and 7 years old, Knowles put them in therapy together. It was a controversial decision in her own family because her husband, Mathew Knowles, opposed.
“He was like,” I don’t want that “,” said Knowles.
For Knowles, it was important when she started to see the separation between her two daughters.
“Beyoncé had become like this little star of the city and she was still so close to Solange and so kind to her, but she was then in the singing group, so everything went in our house,” she said. The other girls in the group told Solange to be silent and silenced and all that and I started to notice that she was not protecting her sister. “”
Knowles’ objective thanks to therapy was to make sure that the two got closer, saying to King: “Everything I have to do to get there.”
Beginning of Destiny’s child
Knowles said that she had tried to be a singer, and although it did not work, she used her skills to help her daughters realize their dreams.
“God always gave me these tools from the first day that I could go back and who would never have thought that I would end up making costumes for Destiny’s Child? Or that I would do hair and all that I did for our group and even the repetitions and discipline of this and harmonies … I used it with the girls,” she said.
But Knowles admits that there have been problems along the way. She said that the label did not like the way she styled Destiny’s Child.
“They dressed as a R&B group. We love the great glamor. And their hair was too big because we came from Texas,” she said. “They just thought it was too much for these young girls and that they should be in jeans and t-shirts like all pop icons of the time. In the meantime, wherever we were going, people said:” Where can we get these outfits? “”
Knowles said that the criticism of the label injured her feelings, but it was a time when she remembers her husband, Mathew, repulsive.
“He was just daring and when I talk about him, he was one of the things he went to beat for me all the time, he fought, he protected me.”
Navigate marriage and parental criticism
Knowles has also written frankly in his memories on the ups and downs of his 30 -year -old wedding with Mathew Knowles.
She said from the start, there was infidelity in their marriage from her and she realized that she had to be prepared.
“I was pregnant and things were-they got really bad at that time. I knew I had to take a step and I didn’t want to be dependent on him,” she said.
She started planning what she called her escape plan. Knowles opened a hair salon called the headliners, which have been so successful that it has become the main source of income for the family and helped finance Beyoncé’s grass career. Mathew Knowles has left his executive sales role at Xerox and started working full time as a manager of Destiny Child’s. Their partnership as parents helped maintain their marriage together.
“People say to me,” How did you stay so long? “And I say to myself:” Well, I was married for 33 years, but 33 years were not bad. “… You know, maybe 15 of them were bad, but we would have these long stretches where we would do very well.”
While their marriage was struggling, Knowles said they were still parents present, but subject to a meticulous examination. She recalled the criticisms that people would say after Solange fell pregnant in adolescence.
“Crazy things like,” well you haven’t paid any attention. You are so busy running behind B that you couldn’t see “- blah, blah. I say to myself:” It is absolutely not true. “”
Knowles continued saying that people did not understand the history of Solange.
“They did not know the background of Solange losing her best friend and wanted to hurry and being an adult because she thought she would not live so long.”
Knowles said Solange clearly said she was getting married.
“I said,” Ok, let me at least give you a marriage “, you know, and I made it memorable for her, but you cannot control someone else’s life. This is their life.”
Knowles also wrote on a false rumor that surfaced during the first pregnancy of Beyoncé, where people said that she did not wear the baby.
“She made a show in Australia and had this type of dress in very wide fabric,” said Knowles about Beyoncé. “She was not a large speaker. She was very proud of her little stomach and she looked and the fabric of the dress was leaned … They started this vicious and horrible rumor that she was not pregnant.”
Knowles expressed his sorrow on the situation and the anger against people who think that her daughter has simulated a pregnancy and used prostheses.
“I have never been so rabid because it should have been a sacred experience and what they did not know is that my child had crossed some false layers, which were so painful.”
Knowles admitted that she had not spoken even though the devastating rumor intensified, saying that Beyoncé thought that she would disappear and manage these situations well.
“I am not so good in this area. I will excite you about my children,” said Knowles. “It was one of the worst moments of my life. It was really. I was crying, I would get so crazy and I got angry so much.”
Divorces and move forward
When she decided to divorce Mathew Knowles, she said she had spent a week in a depressed bed. His longtime therapist has given him an exercise to do: make a list of achievements and failures.
“I had a moment so easy to write bad things. When I got to positive things, I had so much trouble,” she said. “What I achieved about myself is that I was not really comfortable with people who told me great things about me.”
She said that she had not taken the credit of some of her achievements in the past, like her work with Destiny’s Child in order to be humble. She said to herself: “It’s not about you.”
But then she started making her list.
“I started going crazy and writing these things,” she said. “I started my living room. It was a success. You know, I raised big children. All the people I met in my life, as if I had a hell of life.”
Four years after his Mathew Knowles divorce, Tina Knowles married actor Richard Lawson. They were together for 10 years. She said that she felt grateful for the relationship, even if it ended.
“I have known Richard for 40 years and I think he is a great person,” she said. “So, I have no regrets about the time we spent together. I felt a lot of pressure to put an end to the wedding because I had so many people coming to see me and talking to myself about this hope, but – it’s not a tragedy.”
She said that she would love to find love, but is at peace if she does not.
“I finally feel – it’s sad that I am 71 years old and I know that I am enough and if I am not going to do well because I have such a tall and tall life. And I am so blessed, and you know, it’s okay – everything is fine.”
