New Jersey Hall of Fame. New
Jersey is about family and Taylor
Ham” — to which several audi-
ence members shout out, “Pork
roll!” The audience cheers for Li-
otta when he accepts his award,
acknowledging, “New Jersey
has loads of great people.”
Next, Kelly Ripa is introduced
by her father, Joe Ripa, who
informs the audience that
his daughter, Kelly, “is Jersey
tough.” Proud to be honored by
her beloved Garden State, Kelly
says, “Being from New Jersey is
NJ STAGE 2017 - Vol. 4 No. 5
a feeling — it’s a state of mind.”
She also admits that she always
seems to instinctively know
when she meets someone else
from Jersey, suggesting they are
somehow “drawn to each other.”
Following spirited applause
for Kelly and her dad, Wyclef
Jean takes the stage to perform
a song he recorded in 1975
with The Fugees — listed as one
of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest
Songs of All Time — Bob Marley’s
“No Woman, No Cry,” deftly ac-
companied by Glen Burtnik and
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