Solange Knowles Initially Struggled With Her Sister Beyoncé's Fame

Beyoncé and Solange Knowles are one of the most famous celebrity sibling pairs in Hollywood, and they've always made it clear that not only are they sisters, but they're best friends, too. The two grew up in Houston, Texas, and were raised by two doting parents, Tina Knowles-Lawson and Mathew Knowles.

In an interview with Evening Standard, Solange said that even from a young age, she already knew she could count on her sister for anything. "My sister was very protective of me, and we were very sweet with each other. I'm sure if we were closer in age we wouldn't have gotten along so great. But we've been super-close ever since I was about 13," she shared. Beyoncé, of course, confirmed this, saying in an early 2000s interview that she has zero qualms about fighting anyone who messes with Solange. "If someone talks about my sister, I swear to you, I'm ready to fight," she declared. "Like if my sister is happy, I'm even more happy. If she's sad, I'm even more sad." The "Crazy In Love" singer also brushed off rumors that the two of them try to one-up each other. "Absolutely not. We completely support each other," she said.

But according to Tina, the sisters weren't close at the start. The mother of two once revealed that when her daughters were younger, Solange struggled to grapple with her older sister's newfound fame, so Tina had arranged for them to go counseling.

A big part of the reason why Solange and Beyoncé have a rock-solid relationship now is that their mother, Tina Knowles-Lawson, had the foresight to have them go to therapy to help them sort through their issues. Speaking with Maria Shriver in 2018, Mama Knowles said that since her daughters had a five-year gap, Beyoncé was not quite fond of Solance when she was little.

"She couldn't stand her for a minute," Tina explained. "You know, they were little, [Solange] was all in her stuff, trying to hang around her and her friends and Beyoncé was really irritated, but it made her more sensitive to who her sister was and what she had to deal with because of her." Tina, too, paid close attention to Solange since Beyoncé rose to popularity quite early. "I had days I devoted to [each of them] — on Wednesday, I took off work, and that was Solange's day. She was a lot younger than Beyoncé. It was tough because Beyoncé was this little superstar in our city." The counseling paid off because eventually, Beyoncé learned "to be sensitive to the fact that Solange had to deal with being a little bit in her shadow. And it made her way more sensitive and protective."

Eventually, Solange and her family joined Destiny's Child on tour, and she got to support her sister a bit by being a backup dancer. "It was really nice, 'cause in a weird way, we were able to have a lot more of a consistent family life," she told The Fader.

Since they got over their initial slump, Solange and Beyoncé became closer than ever. Solange told Vulture that when she got pregnant, married, and divorced before she was even 21 years old, she had Beyoncé as her support system. She shared that it was a period of her life "when you really, really need your sister." She added, "Every time there was drama ... it was nice to be able to call. Now it's kind of a reversal, with [Beyoncé] getting married and having a baby after me." And now, they babysit each other's kids. "Blue comes over, I babysit. [Beyoncé] takes Julez sometimes for the weekend. [Blue] and Julez are going to grow up more like sister and brother than cousins," she continued.

And while Solange initially had a difficult time dealing with Beyoncé's fame, she thought Beyoncé did — and still does — a great job of looking after her. "You did a kickass job. You were the most patient, loving, wonderful sister ever," she said in her Interview feature. "In the 30 years that we've been together, I think we've only really, like, butted heads ... we can count on one hand."

Beyoncé, for her part, always offers public support for Solange. "My beloved sister, there are no words to express the pride and admiration I have for you," she wrote in an Instagram post when Solange became the first African-American woman to compose for the New York City Ballet. In true big sis fashion, she added: "Might I suggest you don't f*** with my sis."