The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the duo achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following contracting a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we actually completed only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from being in a group, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. 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 given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, shifting millions of units globally. Alongside hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having money and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they remained together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
