At 72, Tina Knowles has lived a life many can only dream of after coming from a tiny town outside of Galveston, Texas. Mom to superstar Beyonce , Tina is also a grandmother, fashion designer, entrepreneur, and author, and has now revealed that she has encouraged her children to attend therapy sessions.
“[Therapy] was the best thing and it made them understand that it’s OK not to be perfect, not to know how to do everything, and that you need to talk to people,” Tina shared, speaking at the LA Times Festival of Books on Saturday, April 18, 2026. “To this day, my kids grew up knowing that it was OK to have someone to talk to and to share things with and not to try to keep them bottled up inside.”
She continued: “If you have heart disease, you’re going to find a heart doctor to help you. It’s the same with therapy, and I’m always shocked when people don’t understand how important it is to have someone who knows how to deal with you during those rough times.
Tina’s memoir, Matriarch, will be released in paperback with new pages on April 28, 2026, and in it she shares moving stories across generations of her family, from the enslavement of her grandparents to the birth of her grandchildren.
© Getty Images for Elton John AIDSSpeaking to Angel Jennings at the Festival of Books, Tina became emotional as she recalled the moment she discovered her father was unable to read or write, years after writing him letters and birthday cards that he would open and only shake the card to release the dollar bills he was given.
It was Tina’s sister who told her the news after a 10-year-old Tina complained that he was being rude.
“It was devastating to me because I think about all the times I wrote him those notes, and I thought he was being mean, but he couldn’t read or write, and that had to be very painful and embarrassing,” said Tina.
© FilmMagicAt 72, Tina is still working hard, with no plans to slow down. She is the creative designer for Beyoncé’s world tours, including the recent Cowboy Carter tour, and most recently co-created Beyoncé’s haircare brand after owning the Headliners hair salon in Houston for nearly 40 years.
“I think people think I just follow Beyonce and Solange around, but I’m actually working,” she said. “I work for the tours. Not one piece of clothing goes out without me approving it.”
© BeyoncéBut despite her incredible resume, daughters Beyoncé and Solange are still reminding her to acknowledge her worth.
“It was easy for me to do things and not get the recognition, but something happened when you get to be 70,” Tina admitted.
“Something clicked, and I said, ‘It’s OK to accept your flowers and take credit for what you do.’ I do believe that in my life I could have done a better job with accepting praise,” she continued. “My daughters would always say, ‘Mama, just take the compliments, stop saying, ‘But I didn’t comb my hair this morning,’ or, ‘I didn’t do this.’ My mom always taught me to be humble, but being humble doesn’t mean you can’t get credit for what you did.”
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