These Celebrities Had Parents Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

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Countless celebrities have been affected by parents with breast cancer as research toward a cure continues.

Normani has been vocal about her mother’s battle with the illness in the past and recently opened up about the “helpless” feeling she had following her mother’s second diagnosis in 2020.

“I was in Los Angeles when I found out my mom had been diagnosed with breast cancer again. My family was back in Houston. Three weeks earlier, when I was visiting my mom at home, she’d fallen into my arms expressing how scared she was,” Normani penned in an Elle op-ed published on Oct. 7. “She had a gut feeling about the results. I felt incredibly helpless because I wasn’t able to cure her.”

“When a close relative has been diagnosed with breast cancer, you have to honor both experiences: the one who is enduring and the one who is doing their best to support,” the singer reflected. “My mom is incredibly independent and self-sufficient, so seeing her break down and not be able to function was really painful.”

Normani’s mother did her last round of chemotherapy in August 2021 and is still in remission.

The 26-year-old performer said her family now maximizes “every single moment” and prioritizes “actually living instead of just existing.”

“My mom’s diagnosis taught me that early detection and not taking anything for granted are so important,” Normani told the outlet.

Read about other celebrities with parents who’ve battled cancer below.

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Alicia Keys

In 2017 Alicia Keys shared that her mother Terria Joseph is a breast cancer survivor.

The singer opened up about her mother’s battle with the illness in a conversation with fashion designer Stella McCartney to bring awareness to a collection benefiting breast cancer medical treatment.

“So I’m showing my support by wearing Stella’s Ophelia Whistling lingerie set,” Keys said in a clip with the designer. “A percentage of the proceeds are donated to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Breast Examination Center in Harlem, which is super important to me. I was raised in Harlem so this really resonates with me. And also my mother is a breast cancer survivor, and I don’t think I’ve ever really got to really share that story.”

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Jazmine Sullivan

Jazmine Sullivan launched the ‘More Than Just Words’ Initiative last year to “provide resources and solutions for breast cancer victims experiencing disparities with treatment, screenings, and overall healthcare.”

While at the TIME100 Gala earlier this year, the Heaux Tales artist told Hello Beautiful that her breast cancer-battling mother is her greatest influence.

“My mother is my biggest influencer – she’s actually here today,” Sullivan said. “She is battling breast cancer for the second time, and I am really happy to have her be here. She has encouraged me and influenced me since I was born. So, I am so happy [to see] she is here.”

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Beyoncé and Solange Knowles

Beyoncé and Solange Knowles’ father Mathew Knowles recently shared, “As a male breast/chest cancer survivor, I’ve learned one word… gratitude! I hope each and every one of you appreciate the beauty of life and live each day to the fullest.”

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Maya Rudolph

Maya Rudolph was only six years old when she lost her mother, singer Minnie Riperton, to breast cancer.

“Riperton underwent a double mastectomy, became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society, and received the Cancer Courage award from president Jimmy Carter” before she died at 31, according to Glamour.

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Lil Mama

“I was just 18 when she died, I wasn’t a woman yet. I felt like I needed my mother to become a woman. It was stressful for years, because I was lost,” Lil Mama wrote for Ebony in 2019.

“At 26, I’m just starting to find myself,” the artist then reflected. “I still miss her [and] I cry occasionally. I still reminisce and think about what life would be like if she was still here. But I also think about all that she has given me. My mother has taught me about integrity, self-confidence and self-love. She stressed the importance of sharing that love with other people, protecting your family and never letting up. I hear her voice, and it helps me to grow. I practice how to be the best me on a daily basis.”

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Nas

Nas first learned his mother Ann Jones was battling cancer in 1999, according to Contact Music.

The rapper reflected on Jones’ 2002 passing by telling the outlet, “My mom was a straight warrior. I never saw nobody with spirit so up. Her spirit was bigger than that cancer man.”

“She was so peaceful. I was saddened ’cause I saw her in a lot of pain. But I was also relieved when she passed in my arms,” he added.

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Lenny Kravitz

Lenny Kravitz’s mother Roxie Roker passed from breast cancer at age 66 in 1995.

″I was a mama’s boy,″ the performer told PEOPLE. ″She was a woman who never spoke badly about anybody, even if they deserved it. At her funeral, late actor Brock Peters said, ‘If Roxie met the devil himself, she’d say to him, ″What a lovely red suit.″’ The whole place burst out laughing because that was my mother. She’s going to find the positive thing that she can say or do in any situation.″

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