The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my arm."
Following catching pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described 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 immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained 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 catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of 1981, selling 21 million copies worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to create a second classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous 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 ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
Yet, they remained active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his time in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs 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 final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
