Hugues Cuénod was born in Coiseaux-sur-Vevey. Cuénod he studied at the Ribaupierre Institute in Lausanne, at the conservatories in Geneva and Basel, and in Vienna. At first he sang in concerts. Then, in 1928, he got a part in the jazz opera "Jonny spielt auf" by Ernst Krenek when it was performed in Paris. The next year he sang for the first time in the United States in Noël Coward's "Bitter Swee t". He worked in Geneva until 1933, then he went to Paris where he met the music teacher Nadia Boulanger. She had a big influence on his musical development. He made a concert tour of North America. From 1940 to 1946 he taught at the Geneva Conservatory. In 1943 he started singing in opera again, singing in Johann Strauss II's "Die Fledermaus" in Geneva. Then he sang at Milan's La Scala (1951), the Glyndebourne Festival (from 1954 on) and London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (1954, 1956 and 1958).