The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "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 immense 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, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family 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 was raised in the seaside town 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 met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on a television program a popular series, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, selling 21 million copies worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having money 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 newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they stayed active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their initial records.
He added that his period in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we had in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
