Gwenno Mererid Saunders (born 23 May 1981) is a Welsh musician, known by the stage name Gwenno. She has released three critically-acclaimed albums as a solo artist: Welsh Music Prize winner Y Dydd Olaf (2014); Le Kov (2018), her first album in Cornish; and Tresor (2022), which was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. She was also a singer in the indie pop group The Pipettes, whose debut We Are the Pipettes was described by Pitchfork as "a classic modern indie-pop album." Biography Saunders was born in Cardiff. She is the daughter of Cornish poet and linguist Tim Saunders and Lyn Mererid, who is an activist and member of the choir Côr Cochion Caerdydd and works as a translator. When she grew up, her father spoke Cornish; her mother spoke Welsh. From the age of five she attended the Seán Éireann-McMahon Academy of Irish Dance and was a cast member of Michael Flatley's productions of Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames by the age of 17, playing a lead role in a Las Vegas production of the former. In 2001 she had a role in the Welsh language soap opera Pobol y Cwm on S4C, for whom she would later host her own programme Ydy Gwenno'n Gallu...? She is fluent in Welsh and Cornish. On 18 April 2019 she presented "Songs from the Edgelands", a programme about songs in minority languages on BBC Radio 4. Music career Early career (2002–2010) In the years before she joined the Pipettes, she had been a solo electropop singer, mostly in the Welsh and Cornish languages, releasing two solo EPs, Môr Hud (2002) and Vodya (2004). Saunders represented Cornwall in the Liet International song contest, 2003, and won the People's Choice Award for her performance of "Vodya". In December 2004 Gwenno filmed the song "Ysolt y'nn Gweinten" by Celtic Legend for Classic FM TV. It is claimed to be the first video produced in the Cornish language, the text having been written by her father Tim Saunders with music by Cornish composer and ex Gary Numan keyboard player Chris John Payne. Gwenno joined the Pipettes in April 2005 after founding member Julia left. She is most notable for her lead vocals on the single "Pull Shapes" and the chorus of "Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me". She has more recently posted solo material to her Myspace page, and made a free download of