Earlier this morning (Feb. 26), Tina Knowles took to Instagram to announce the unfortunate passing of her sibling.
"My beautiful big brother, Butch, went to be with God this weekend," she wrote. "I will miss him so much! He was a career Air Force man. He loved riding motorcycles, was a black belt in karate, and had the most beautiful green eyes and good looks. He was a great storyteller." Tina then revealed her brother's full name -- Rowland Martin Buyince' -- and acknowledged his "incredible" wife, "devoted" daughter, and "two beautiful" grandchildren. No one else within the family, including Beyoncé and Solange, publicly spoke on Butch's death.
Back in December 2023, Tina opened up about another late relative -- her nephew, John Edward Rittenhouse, Jr., whom her children knew as Uncle Johnny. "Every room Johnny walked into, he left it better than when he came in it," she said in an interview with Forbes. "I don’t know many people that can say every room that they entered, they left it better. He was incredibly kind, incredibly funny, and you felt like you knew him a minute after you met him."
As REVOLT previously reported, Beyoncé paid tribute to Uncle Johnny, who died when she was 17 years old from HIV-related complications. "A big thank you to my Uncle Johnny," she wrote on her official website. "He was my godmother and the first person to expose me to a lot of the music and culture that served as inspiration for this album. Thank you to all the pioneers who originated culture, [and] to all fallen angels whose contributions have gone unrecognized for too long. This is a celebration for you.”
Tina later responded to the "beautiful" dedication on social media. "Johnny was the closest human being in the world to me. We were inseparable growing up!" the matriarch added.