Tina Knowles is sharing the fearful experience that ultimately led her to meet her future husband, Mathew Knowles. In her memoir Matriarch, the 71-year-old fashion designer and mother of Beyoncé and Solange opens up about a terrifying brush with death in 1975 that unexpectedly set her life on a new path.
Tina recalled that while having fun in the waters of Galveston beach with her friend Rusty, they were suddenly caught in a rip current that pulled them far from shore.
She described how the water “sucker-punched” her, dragging her further out as she tried to escape the violent tide.
“This, I knew, was how people died with undercurrents,” she wrote. “You don’t drown close to shore, you drowned way out here with the surge popping you out far, the water so rough that you can’t move.”
As the current grew stronger, Tina stopped struggling for a moment and tried to float to preserve her energy. She thought she was going to drown, remembering warnings from her mother and stories of past accidents. Fortunately, lifeguards — who Tina believed had been distracted earlier — spotted her and swam out with boogie boards to rescue her.
Tina and the lifeguards eventually reached the shore, where an ambulance and her worried mother were waiting. “I told you, I told you,” her mom said.
Rusty, who had swum toward nearby rocks to escape the current, was badly cut by barnacles but also made it back safely.
The near-death experience left a lasting bond between Tina and Rusty.
Later, Tina moved to Houston and met Rusty at a house party hosted by Mathew Knowles, a moment that marked the beginning of a new chapter.
“So I went to a simple party at some guy’s apartment in Houston,” she wrote.
Tina and Mathew were married in 1980 and eventually parted ways in 2011.
“The decision to end our marriage is an amicable one. We remain friends, parents and business partners,” they said in a statement at the time.
In Matriarch, Tina reflects on the ups and downs of their 31-year marriage, including Mathew’s infidelity.
“There were already problems in our marriage that first year,” she wrote, though she remained hopeful that their “love was stronger than a misstep.”
Still, the relationship became increasingly strained. “Incredibly joyous half the time as we shared life’s adventure, then being disgusted and heartsick over how brazen his cheating could get,” she added.
What started as a terrifying day in the ocean would unknowingly lead Tina toward a pivotal relationship in her life and the future father of her children.
