The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a classic of electronic music.
He later founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his sleep at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we actually finished only a few days ago," said the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling millions of units worldwide. Alongside hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having money and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a second classic album - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
However, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently described the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while recording their initial records.
He added that his time in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
