The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their version 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 formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally finished only a few days ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
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 band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his first name from his birth name to his adopted name, alongside his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes 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 successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase substances to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, including 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.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they returned in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they stayed active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their initial records.
He added that his time in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
