The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the duo achieved a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following contracting pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we actually completed only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from Paul to David, alongside his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of the early 80s, selling millions of copies worldwide. Together with hits by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The track was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded 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 acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they stayed together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times we had in the 80s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
