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New Jersey's

Map of the Stars Take a celebrity tour of the Garden State Welcome to New Jersey, home to every celebrity who’s ever lived. Well, not really. But sometimes it seems that way. Sinatra. Springsteen. Whitney. Whoopi. Carli. Meryl. Jack. Jonas (Kevin, Joe, and Nick — all three). The Garden State is not only a breeding ground for household names, it’s also a place where some of the planet’s most well-known settle down or buy a second home. It makes sense. New Jersey is the nation’s most densely populated state. And it’s sprinkled with a mix of suburban and urban communities, all sandwiched between New York City and Philadelphia. But where exactly did these celebs grow up? And where do they live now? Introducing the New Jersey Map of the Stars. It’s just like those maps they hand out in Hollywood pointing you to the homes of the rich and famous. Only this time, it’s a guide if you ever want to take a celebrity tour down the Turnpike or Parkway. We broke it into three categories: True Jersey (the childhood homes of celebs who grew up here and the former homes of those spent significant time here), New Jersey (the current homes of celebs who have moved here from out of state), and Still Jersey (the current homes of celebs who grew up here and remain). The list may surprise you. Did you know which Jersey Shore spot Taylor Swift vacationed at as child? Or which South Jersey town a very young Steven Spielberg once called home?

Bruce Springsteen's beginnings Don’t argue: Bruce Springsteen practically is New Jersey. And you could spend all weekend visiting the places the rock legend lived here. Like his old garage apartment on Fifth Avenue in Bradley Beach, where he resided in 1973. Or the baby blue Long Branch cottage on West End Court, where he wrote the song “Born to Run” while “sitting on the edge of my bed.” But in terms of childhood homes, there are three in his hometown of Freehold. The first is his grandparents’ house on Randolph Street, where Springsteen lived as a toddler. (It’s since been demolished for a church parking lot.) The second is the tiny two-family home on Institute Street where his family moved where he was 5 and lived in until he was in high school. Springsteen didn’t like the place, which last sold for $255,000 in 2018. “Every chance I got, I returned to stay with my grandparents,” he wrote in his autobiography. “It was my true home.” The Boss’ third and final Freehold home is a two-family house on South Street (pictured). It’s the last place he lived in with his family and where a teenaged Springsteen embraced the guitar and joined his first band. Springsteen said he and his band turned it into a “hippie frat house” when his father, mother, and baby sister left for California in 1969. (The home was most recently assessed for $337,000.) Springsteen graduated from Freehold Borough High in 1967 but didn’t fit in. He also briefly attended Ocean County College but dropped out. Instead, he made a name for himself in various Jersey bands — until Columbia Records signed him in 1972. Rock ‘n’ roll’s future was on his way.

Bergen County's wealthy boroughs If MTV ever wanted to reboot “Cribs” and focus an episode on New Jersey’s rich and famous, it should start with Bergen County. Four upscale boroughs — Alpine, Cresskill, Franklin Lakes, and Saddle River — are home to a slew of wealthy celebrities living in lavish mansions, sometimes on the same street. It helps that the area is relatively secluded yet still a short drive from New York City. Despite boasting fewer than 2,000 residents, Alpine is especially packed with celebs — including many hip-hop and music stars (like Lil Kim, Ja Rule, Rev Run, and Stevie Wonder). Comedians Chris Rock and Tracy Morgan also live there. So do C.C. Sabathia and Kellyanne Conway, who make unlikely neighbors living on the same street. Past residents include Jay-Z, P. Diddy, and Eddie Murphy. In 2012, Forbes ranked Alpine as America’s most expensive zip code, with a median home price of $4.25 million. But Bergen — with its 70 municipalities — has also been a launching pad for future household names. People as varied as Jason Biggs, James Comey, Tom Cruise, Richard Lewis, and Bill Parcells grew up here. The Jonas Brothers and Tara Reid hail from Wyckoff. The little borough of Tenafly produced Ed Harris, Lea Michele, Lesley Gore, and Mira Sorvino. And the Dwight-Englewood School boasts alumni that include not only Gore and Sorvino but Anthony Bourdain, Dick Button, Karen O of alt-rock group the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Brook Shields.

Newark New Jersey’s most populous city has naturally produced a slew of celebrities — and across a bunch of mediums. Author Philip Roth and comedian Jerry Lewis grew up in Newark. So did basketball star Shaquille O’Neal (and his cousin, comedian Bill Bellamy). Music stars Whitney Houston and Queen Latifah grew up in the Oranges. And then there’s Columbia High School in nearby Maplewood, where the alumni include singer Lauryn Hill and actors Roy Scheider, Elisabeth Shue, and Zach Braff.

Philly Suburbs South Jersey has produced a number of homegrown star athletes: baseball’s Mike Trout (Millville), soccer’s Carli Lloyd (Delran), football’s Joe Flacco (Audubon), and track’s Carl Lewis (Willingboro). But it’s also the adopted home of many players on Philadelphia pro sports team, who buy fancy homes in the city’s Jersey suburbs and make the 20- or 30-minute commute across the Delaware River to work. Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz lives in rural Medford. Ex-Eagles Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb once resided in Moorestown. And former Phillies star Jimmy Rollins used to own a home in Woolwich, where he and his wife also opened an animal hospital.

Middletown and Red Bank In Middletown, you’ll find tree-lined Navesink River Road along the Navesink River, home to lovely views of downtown Red Bank and some of the most expensive — often gated — homes in the state. Gov. Phil Murphy lives there. So does his longtime neighbor, Jon Bon Jovi. (Well, for now. The rock star recently put his house up for sale.) And Debbie Harry owns a home just miles away. Journalist Connie Chung and her husband, talk show host Maury Povich, owned Middletown’s historic Locustwood manor for years, until they sold it for $1.4 million in 2011. Another journalist, Geraldo Rivera, once owned a 19th century mansion called Rough Point overlooking the Navesink. And across the river is Jon Stewart, who still owns adjacent houses in Red Bank.

Princeton It’s one of the most recognizable mailing addresses in the state, if not the country — home to Princeton University, rows of lovely homes, and many famous names. Noted authors Toni Morrison and Joyce Carol Oates have not only taught at the college but lived in town. So did Albert Einstein. Among those that grew up here are Trey Anastasio, John Lithgow, Bebe Neuwirth, Christopher Reeve, and Paul Robeson. Former President Grover Cleveland is buried here. As is former Vice President Aaron Burr. Plus, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was raised in nearby Hamilton, comedian Jon Stewart in nearby Lawrenceville, and actor Ethan Hawke in nearby West Windsor.

By the numbers This list includes: 19 musical artists with a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 (Mary J. Blige, Jon Bon Jovi, Cardi B, Gloria Gaynor, Lesley Gore, Halsey, Debbie Harry, Lauryn Hill, Whitney Houston, Ja Rule, Tommy James, Kool & The Gang, Lil Kim, Frank Sinatra, Taylor Swift, John Travolta, Frankie Valli, Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder) (Honorable mention to Bruce Springsteen, who never recorded a No. 1 hit, but wrote one: “Blinded by the Light” by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band) 11 Oscar winners (Whoopi Goldberg, Anne Hathaway, Jack Nicholson, Joe Pesci, Susan Sarandon, Frank Sinatra, Mira Sorvino, Steven Spielberg, Bruce Springsteen, Meryl Streep, Stevie Wonder) 11 Olympic gold medalists (Dick Button, Bill Bradley, Milt Campbell, Anne Donovan, Tobin Heath, Laurie Hernandez, Carl Lewis, Carli Lloyd, Shaquille O’Neal, Heather O’Reilly, Christie Pearce Rampone) 11 Super Bowl champions (Harry Carson, Victor Cruz, Joe Flacco, Franco Harris, Malcolm Jenkins, Eli Manning, Bill Parcells, Phil Simms, Joe Theismann, David Tyree, Carson Wentz) 7 presidential candidates (Cory Booker, Bill Bradley, Chris Christie, Grover Cleveland, Steve Forbes, Donald Trump, Woodrow Wilson) 4 Pulitzer Prize winners (Junot Diaz, Toni Morrison, Philip Roth, William Carlos Williams)