Mathew Knowles is opening up about how his own health knowledge helped save his life.

The music executive and father of Beyoncé and Solange appeared on the podcast “Outlaws with T.S. Madison,” where he detailed his 2019 breast cancer diagnosis and early detection.

According to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama, Knowles carried a Stage 1A BRCA2 gene mutation and underwent a surgical mastectomy to remove the cancer.

Knowles explained that he "gratefully" knew "a lot about breast cancer" because he used to sell mammography equipment while working for Xerox. "I knew when I had discharge in my chest area that that was a high probability [and] called my doctor," he told Madison. He added that he was the first man to ask his doctor for a mammogram. Per advocacy organization Susan G. Komen, roughly 2,700 men in the U.S. are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Knowles hopes that his story allows other men to take the proper steps in prevention and early diagnosis.

"Early detection is so critically important. And I'm grateful I was stage 1A. That saved my life," Knowles said. "The universe wanted me for some reason to save my life by selling equipment that one day saved my life."

He also shared that Destiny's Child's "Survivor" became his personal anthem while he battled cancer. "It's one of those things men don't like to talk about because society has made us think we can't talk about it," Knowles said. "I'm just the opposite. If I can save someone's life today, then that makes today really special."

Knowles' ex-wife, Tina Knowles, revealed in her 2025 memoir “Matriarch” that she had also been diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer after missing a mammogram. She is now cancer-free.