Mathew Knowles says he's been battling breast cancer.

The father of Beyoncé and Solange Knowles opened up on "Good Morning America" Wednesday about his diagnosis.

Knowles told interviewer Michael Strahan that he noticed a "small, recurring dot of blood" on his shirt two months ago and said he immediately went to his doctor.

"It was very clear that I had breast cancer," he said. "From a man's perspective, I'm thinking, 'Why me?' "

Knowles' first call, he said, was to his family.

"This is genetics," he said. "It also means 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."

Knowles had surgery in July and says he's now doing "all the steps for recovery."

"I'm doing really good," he said. "I stopped drinking, I just wanted to have a clean bill of health… Exercise, meditate. Things that used to be important are not important to me now. I just look at the world differently."

The "GMA" interview arrives at the start of Breast Cancer Awareness month. According to the American Cancer Society, male breast cancer is rare. In 2015, about 1% of new breast cancer cases were diagnosed in men. Strahan noted breast cancer is more common in black men than white men.

"I'm hoping by me coming here today and speaking about it, letting folks know that you can survive this, but it has to be early detection," Knowles said. "I can't overemphasize the world 'early' (enough)."

Knowles tweeted Tuesday that there would be a "special announcement" made during his intimate "GMA" chat, presumably referring to, at least in part, the news of his diagnosis.

Knowles, 67, a businessman and Beyoncé's former manager, divorced Beyoncé and Solange's mom, Tina Knowles, in 2009 after 29 years of marriage and fathering a child with actress Alexsandra Wright. In 2011, Beyoncé fired him as her manager. He married model Gena Charmaine Avery in 2013.

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As the former manager of Destiny's Child, Knowles regularly shares supportive "throwback" posts of the group and has talked about developing a Destiny's Child musical.

USA TODAY has reached out to Beyoncé and Solange's reps for comment.

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