AceShowbiz -

Ellen DeGeneres wasted no time to ask John Mayer a sensitive subject when the 35-year-old singer visited "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" this week. Less than two weeks after splitting for the second time from singer Katy Perry, Mayer talked about it in public for the first time.

"The last time I saw you, you were at the Grammys," said DeGeneres. "You were sitting on the same row as Portia and I with Katy. I know Katy, she is a good friend as well, and I know that since then, you're not together any more."

"Correct," Mayer confirmed the breakup. However, he insisted on keeping the details private. "Listen, it was a very private relationship going in. It was a private relationship during, and it's a private relationship, still," he said.

"I can understand asking the question based on some previous answers I have given, but I have finally learned how to put the wall between one thing and the other. I've been much happier since then. I'm on the same journey as everyone else. Coupling is a tricky thing," he continued.

DeGeneres later brought up a question about his vocal health. Last year, Mayer was diagnosed with a granuloma (severe tissue inflammation on his vocal chords) that kept him quiet for over a year. "Half of it is over-use and singing and singing and singing," he explained. "The other stuff is you know, what you put into your body."

Mayer then revealed that his own bad habit of drinking scotch contributed to his ailing vocal cords. "It didn't help that I really loved, loved, loved scotch," he said. "It's just like applying poison to your body. It's like applying a shellac of poison. It's just delicious, wonderful poison, that makes you not care how late you're out til or where you're going. I had to really say, 'I like singing and writing more than I like delicious scotch.' So I had to really dial it down. And I'm a little more boring now."