The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about five ribs and broke my arm."
Following catching a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, selling 21 million copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which spawned two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase substances to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented 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 hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
