Beyoncé’s Father Mathew Knowles Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

Beyoncé's dad Mathew Knowles, 67, is sharing some sad news.

In a new interview with “Good Morning America's” Michael Strahan, Knowles revealed that he has breast cancer.

In a teaser for the sit-down, Strahan asked, “How was it to tell your family about your diagnosis?"

Knowles is dealing with a rare type of cancer; only one in 1,000 men develop breast cancer.

Once he learned about his diagnosis, Mathew told his family. He said, "This is genetics. It also means that my kids have a higher chance, a higher risk. Even my grandkids have a higher risk. And they handled it like they should — they went and got the test."

Since he has the BRCA2 gene mutation, Mathew has a higher risk of developing cancer. He explained, "I have four things to be concerned about: prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, melanoma, and breast cancer. The rest of my life I have to be very much aware and conscious and do all of the early detection... for the rest of my life."

After undergoing surgery in July, Knowles is "doing well." Along with changing his lifestyle, he emphasized, "I stopped drinking. I wanted to have a clean bill of health; do things like exercise, meditate. Things that used to be important, Michael, are not important to me now. [I] just look at the world differently."

Knowles stressed the importance of "speaking up," saying, "I learned that the numbers that we have for men on breast cancer are not adequate because we don't have enough men that come forward that take the exam. I'm hoping by me coming here today, speaking out, letting folks know that you can survive this, but it has to be early detection. I can't over emphasize the word 'early.'"

Mathew told ABC News, "I am going to get the second breast removed in January because I want to do anything I can to reduce the risk. We use the words 'cancer-free,' but medically there's no such thing as 'cancer-free.' There's always a risk. My risk of a recurrence of breast cancer is less than 5 percent, and the removal of the other breast reduces it down to about 2 percent.”

Knowles recently opened up about his relationship with his daughters Beyoncé and Solange Knowles. He told Paper magazine, “I have a great relationship as a father with not just Beyoncé, but people forget I have this talented, gifted kid named Solange, who is a Grammy winner and has had a number one album. People tend to think she does not exist.”

Despite his cancer diagnosis, Mathew is still working. In July, he signed on as Chief Marketing Officer of Bangi Inc., which buys and leases real estate for weed farms and dispensaries.

While noting that he uses marijuana for “medical reasons,” he emphasized to Page Six, “I'm a marketing guy. I like to think outside of the box. I like to be on the beginning of a trend and not at the end of it.”