Beyoncé has spent decades in the public eye — but the superstar wasn’t always so eager to be in the spotlight, her mom revealed in a new interview.
Speaking to Vogue, Tina Knowles, 70, shared that Beyonce was a “shy” child who was sometimes picked on by the other kids.
“Beyoncé, she was very shy and she got bullied a bit, but the day that she stood up for someone—she didn’t stand up for herself she stood up for them,” she said.
“I’m getting emotional talking about it.”
Knowles also spoke of her younger daughter Solange’s early tendencies toward activism. “Solange was her signing a petition in school,” Knowles named as her favorite memory of her daughter. “She was only in 5th grade and she was out getting petitions signed, so she’s always been an activist.”
“I’m getting emotional talking about it. I was just, I couldn’t have been more proud of her,” she continued..
“She’s always been an activist,” she said of Solange, 37.
Though Knowles only has two biological daughters, she often claims Kelly Rowland, who was a member of Destiny’s Child alongside Beyoncé and Michelle Williams, as her third child. Rowland came to live with Knowles and their family when she was only 11 years old.
“Kelly was always this kid that just tried to protect everybody,” Knowles remembered. “I have a memory of her with her best friend Barbara and her being a mediator, and just being this little peacemaker.”
“My three girls all handled things very differently. Learn their personalities and respect the individuality,” the fashion designer wrote in her caption. “Never compare the negatives , always praise the positive differences and pay attention to the things that you can brag on about them. They love it and it encourages positive behavior.”
Knowles tied the knot with Mathew in 1980, spending 31 years together. Four years after Knowles split from Mathew, she married Richard Lawson. The pair were together for eight years prior to their recent split in 2023