The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He later formed the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we actually finished only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling 21 million units globally. Together with hits by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed 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 first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared 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 know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
However, they stayed active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their initial records.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"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 last versions were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
