The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the duo scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that show, Ball performed 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 commented in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and cracked about five ribs and fractured my arm."
Following contracting pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we actually completed only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned 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 great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented 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 part of my existence and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in 1959, Ball was given 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 changed his given name from Paul to David, alongside his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk perform on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase substances to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to create a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
However, they stayed together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately described the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I had 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 those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
