Adam Lambert appeared on "The Jay Leno Show" on Monday night, where he discussed how dramatically his life has changed since he competed on "American Idol," performed at the American Music Awards and released his first album, For Your Entertainment.

"I'm hanging on white knuckles. It's a good ride. I mean how hasn't [life changed since 'Idol']?" he said. "It's wild. I have people that are so supportive of me that are buying the CD."

Lambert said the new season of "American Idol," set to begin in January, will be very different without Paula Abdul sitting at the judges' table. "I think Paula's amazing," he said. "It's bound to be different. She provided so much warmth and positive critiques. [Simon's] great at what he does. He's hard on people. Paula's the flip ... she provides positive reinforcement."

The singer also talked about what he did before his career in entertainment. "I worked at Starbucks when I was 16. ... It was all right," he said about his former day job. "I liked meeting new people. I used to come home and I stunk of coffee beans and it was awful."

Lambert explained his short-lived stay at college, saying, "[My parents have] always been really supportive [like] when I decided to drop out of college after five weeks. I tried. ... [I was studying] musical theater. I don't know. ... I thought to myself I don't want to learn this in a classroom. [My father] was always supportive. My mother was always supportive. They were always there for me and ... I know they're very proud."

The singer also discussed his younger brother on the show, noting that he did manage to graduate school. "You know he's got a little artistic [side]," he said. "He just graduated college. He was a political science major. He's a great writer. He's a lot more cynical than I am, but he's funny. He's really smart."

The "Idol" runner-up also took some time to clear up rumors that have been floating around about him. "I haven't started a makeup line. I might, but I haven't yet," he said. "My father was rumored to be mortified by what I did [at the 'American Music Awards'] and that we're not speaking. That's a rumor. ... I think Bill O'Reilly perpetuated that. Lovely man. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. [My dad and I] were laughing about it ... so that was a rumor."

Lambert ended his "Leno" appearance with a performance of his song "Whataya Want From Me."