Marina Helenöporm

**Marina Helena Helenöporm** (born 8 November 1957) is a Lashardian singer, songwriter, guitarist, entrepreneur, and businesswoman, best known for being a member of The Cherry Bombs.

She has since become the CEO and founder of *Marina Helena*, a guitar manufacturing company marketed towards female guitarists.

## Life and career

### Early life

Helenöporm was born on 8 November 1957 in the Sestre district of Ubenmoor. Her mother, Helena, was a single mother who prostituted herself to make money. Helenöporm has never met her father. She has a younger half-sister by six years, and the family lived in poverty. Helena was a strict Lashardian Orthodox Christian.

Helenöporm attended primary school in Sestre, where she frequently got into trouble and received poor grades. She instead found solace in rock music, and taught herself how play guitar after stealing one from her school at age 12. In 1971, at the age of 14, Helenöporm got pregnant and had an abortion. The story is the basis of The Cherry Bombs's song "Nightlight" off their 1983 album, *CB*.

Helenöporm graduated from primary school in 1973, and began attending a performing arts high school in Jorden, where she began to write music. She graduated from high school in 1976 and moved into a Breż apartment, where she began pursuing a career in music.

### 1970s–1980s: Early career and The Cherry Bombs

After moving to Breż, Helenöporm performed in a large amount of rock bands, either as the guitarist or vocalist. She befriended Dasha Franköforson and Srdana Eriköhemsli at a party in 1978, and in 1979 was invited to join The Cherry Bombs as a vocalist and lead guitarist.

The band soon began performing gigs throughout Ubenmoor and were signed to Akai Music Group in 1980. Later in the year, they released their debut single "Somebody". The song became a smash hit, reaching number-one in four countries. Their debut studio album, *Ignition*, was later released the following year, and became the best-selling album of 1981.

In 1982, rumors arose of the group's possible breakup due to Franköforson and Eriköhemsli's desire to pursue solo careers. However, when asked about the rumors, all five members of the group dismissed them as fiction and that they'd begun work on their second studio album. The album's lead single "Vacation", was released in autumn 1982. The song was a massive success, and peaked in the top three of six countries' singles chart. Their second studio album, *CB*, was released in early-1983.

Rumors of a possible breakup resurfaced after the abrupt cancelation of their Asmatys-wide tour to promote *CB*. Many news stories began reporting that Franköforson and Eriköhemsli had signed solo recording contracts and that the other band members were furious. In 1984, the group confirmed that they had split up.

### Entrepreneural career

After the breakup of The Cherry Bombs, Helenöporm launched her own guitar company, *Marina Helena*. The guitars are designed for female guitarists. She launched the company in 1987, and they are now supplied in over 1,000 guitar stores throughout Asmatys. Marina Helena has been endorsed by musicians such as Gigi Ergörot, Bleta, and Öna Jay.

## Personal life

Helenöporm publicly came out as a lesbian in 1995, having come out privately to family and friends in the mid-1970s. She resides in the Hoffmann district of Ubenmoor, and is a practicing Lashardian Orthodox Christian.