Brandy Clark is 39. And thank God, she is 39.

Because what if the younger Brandy Clark hadn't had much to say? Would she still be nominated for best new artist at the upcoming Grammy Awards?

She doesn't think so.

"If I had gotten this chance at 25, I would've been anybody that somebody wanted, and it wouldn't have worked," Clark told People magazine in the new issue with Jennifer Lopez on the cover. "I feel lucky it happened now."

She also admitted she thought maybe she was going to be too late.

"(This career) came along after I thought my chance had passed. And it's perfect," she said.

Clark knows that she's a late bloomer, though, in her music and her love life. She even admits not knowing she was gay when she was growing up.

"You go through a time of thinking, 'This can't be me,'" she said.

But now that she is open about that and has a partner she's been with for 11 years, she says it helps her be more honest in her songwriting.

"I want to tell stories that everybody's living," Clark said, "but not everybody is quick to tell."