In public, Beyoncé rarely seems fazed by rumors of turmoil in her personal relationships. She even appeared relatively calm during the infamous elevator fight between Jay-Z and Solange. Still, things get under her skin just like they do with the rest of us. She once admitted she frequently argued with one important figure in her life.

Beyoncé admitted she had a ‘tense’ relationship with her father

In the early years of her career, Beyoncé’s father, Matthew Knowles, served as her manager. 

“[M]y father is still my manager. He does all of the business deals and negotiations,” she told Vogue in 2009. “The best thing is having someone I trust. I know he is up until 4:00 A.M. fighting and working and doing things that no one else would do.”

Knowles’ work ethic helped his daughter’s career. Still, Beyoncé described her father as a workaholic and said she’d taken steps to ensure she was not the same way.

“He is a tough bargainer,” she said. “But he really knows what he’s doing, and he’s a workaholic. And for a while I was starting to become that way. I realized that just because my parents are workaholics — because my mother is, too — it doesn’t mean I have to be one. So I have slowed down a lot — even though my slowing down is two movies and a tour in one year!”

She admitted the relentless pace of her work life was something she and her father clashed on often.

“We just had a meeting yesterday about the tour,” she said. “I approved everything I do, all the bookings, made sure everything makes sense for me. The thing that me and my father sometimes bump heads over is: just too much.”

She clarified that they only ever argued about business, but this was a frequent occurrence. 

“It’s definitely tense,” she said. “And if there’s one person in my life I argue with the most, it’s him. But it’s business. It’s always about business.”

He served as her manager until 2011

In 2011, Beyoncé dropped her father as her manager. He said there were no hard feelings between them.

“Business is business and family is family,” her father said, per The Guardian. “It should come as no surprise that at 29 years old, almost 30, she wants to have more control of her business.”

She said she wanted to follow in her parents’ footsteps by exercising more control over her work life.

“He is my father for life and I love my dad dearly,” Beyoncé said. “I grew up watching both he and my mother manage and own their own businesses … and I will continue to follow in their footsteps.”

Despite rumors to the contrary, Knowles insisted that his divorce from Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, had nothing to do with the split.

Beyoncé has a close relationship with her mother

Beyoncé’s mother also played an important role in her career. 

“My mother is truly my best friend,” she said. “We work together on our clothing line. She handles my movies: She reads all the scripts and tells me the good ones, and then I read them.”

Beyoncé and her mother remain close to this day.