The state rolled out the red carpet for its hometown greats this weekend as 20 Garden State legends were honored at the 17th annual New Jersey Hall of Fame ceremony, hosted by none other than Danny DeVito over at the Hall of Fame's new home in the American Dream Mall.

The inductees included a range of talents from pop stars the Jonas Brothers to Olympic gold medalist Sidney McLaughlin-Laroni and of course, NJPBS's own former anchor, Mary Alice Williams.

Our senior correspondent Joanna Gaggis was there to capture all the fun and Jersey pride.

It's a big deal.

When you got some Jersey pride, you know how it feels.

with a whole lot of Jersey pride and now a new accolade to claim members of the 2025 class of inductees into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

<"JERSEY IS SUCH A PART OF OUR STORY AND OUR ROOTS.

YOU LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF ICONIC MUSICIANS AND ARTISTS AND CREATORS THAT HAVE COME OUT OF THIS STATE.

IT'S REALLY WILD.

IT MUST BE SOMETHING IN THE WATER.

TO BE RECOGNIZED AND TO BE AMONGST THOSE PEOPLE NOW IS SUCH A DREAM FOR US.

WE'RE THRILLED TO BE HERE TO CELEBRATE IT.

"> <"ORIGINAL BONJOVI BAND MEMBER, KEYBOARDIST DAVID BRYAN WAS AN INDUCTEE PRESENTED BY THE BAND'S NAMESAKE, JOHN BONJOVI HIMSELF.> We've seen bands that didn't stand the test of time, that couldn't stay together.

Is there a certain magic about Bon Jovi that kept you together?

Was it hard work?

Was it communication?

What was it?

Pretty much blackmail.

Best answer ever.

You'll tell us later?

It's a lot.

You'll tell me later.

I'll tell you that.

I got pictures.

No, it's, you know, there is no formula.

We just were, it started off with five guys really setting out to conquer the world.

We kept going and going and going and we just keep going forward.

What does it mean to you now to be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame and to be here with your brother from the band?

It's pretty excellent.

I actually knew about, I was in Newark Airport, I look on the wall and I went, there's Bruce, there's John, there's little Stephen.

I'm like, hey.

What about me?

What about me?

So, uh, and you said it loud enough and I said it loud enough and boom, here I am.

The Hall of Fame has grown since it started in 2005.

Now with a museum at American Dream in the Meadowlands, that's open to the public.

It selects inductees from a range of backgrounds, including athletes like Olympic gold champions, Sydney McLaughlin, LeBron, who hails from Dunellan.

It's so special.

I mean, this is where the dream started, where I fell in love with track and field.

And so just being able to come back to come full circle like this is so special.

Growing up here, I never knew what the future held and if I was going to make it to where I am now, but I have to credit my roots here in that journey.

The obviously next Olympic Games are going to be right here at home in LA.

What do you hope to accomplish?

Hopefully just continuing the greatness, just wanting to show that anything's possible.

Always going for gold, 100%.

Going to push the bounds of what's possible and hopefully just continue to represent Jersey well.

And New Jersey Devils goaltender, great Martin Brodeur.

22 years in the NHL, 21 with the New Jersey Devils, is that about right?

That's about right.

Played lots of years in Jersey, it's been great.

you know, you try to try as you can.

And obviously got to a great, great fran devils and a lot of succe and you know, it's still, back about what I've acco hard to believe, but that times for me.

And then th like CNN anchor and chief Dana Bash, who took a min to talk about the challenges facing women in the industry right now.

Where do women need to go in a space where they're being silenced, condescended to, called piggy?

What is the answer here?

Keep doing what we're doing.

The answer for women is just to keep excelling and doing as well as we have been.

I have to say it's tough, but it's been a whole lot tougher.

But I just think we have to keep pushing, keep being as persistent as we possibly can and having each other's backs.

And one of the founding anchors of CNN and former anchor of this show, Mary Alice Williams.

It's incredibly moving.

It's just a wonderful thing.

And I think the most important thing is when I was a kid, in my day, girls were not allowed to do this.

And the fact that they can walk in there and see all the faces of the people in this Hall of Fame, many of whom were stopped at every step, but followed their own dreams and did it anyway, and accomplished extraordinary things.

But New Jersey's leading lady, Soprano star Edie Falco, stopped by to offer a hot take on this New Jersey controversy.

Would Tony and Carmelo have really named their daughter Meadow?

[laughs] That's funny.

I think they probably thought it was sort of artsy and cute, you know.

I thought about that in the past.

It is, you know, she should have been Maria probably or something.

Gianna.

Yeah, Gianna, exactly.

But maybe they thought they were like ahead of the curve as far as being like, you know, forward thinking.

A little bougie maybe.

That's right.

Yes.

Trying to be bougie.

Yes, I like that.

From chefs to philanthropists, teachers to scientists, the talent of New Jersey was on full display.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Joanna Gagis.

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