17/10/2025
U can take the girl out of Jersey
But u cant take Jersey out of the girl!
PorkRoll & Cheese all around! 🍅
"The wilds of New Jersey" Debbie Harry - 1975
Photo by Chris Stein
Deborah Ann Harry grew up in Hawthorne, New Jersey, a borough in Passaic County.
As a child and adolescent in Hawthorne, she sang in her church choir, spent time outdoors (including woods near her home), and later attended Hawthorne High School, graduating in 1963.
After high school, she earned an Associate of Arts degree from Centenary College in Hackettstown, New Jersey (a small liberal arts college) in 1965.
She rose from the underground punk scene of 1970s New York to become an international pop icon, transforming from a downtown club singer into the magnetic, platinum-blonde face of Blondie. Her cool, effortless style and genre-blending sound propelled her from obscurity to global stardom.
Though her musical career was largely tied to New York City and the NYC punk / new wave / club scene, she retained a presence in New Jersey. In more recent years, she has been reported to maintain residences in New York City and in Middletown Township, New Jersey. She was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2017, underscoring her association with the state.