The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He later founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep 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
At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a spate of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After catching pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we literally completed only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"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 masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, memorable experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family 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 his new family his caregivers, who changed his given name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television science show a popular series, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of the early 80s, selling millions of copies worldwide. Together with hits by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two additional top five hits: 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
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a second classic album - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded 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 combined acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further 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 September 30, that year.
Yet, they remained together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while making 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 morphine," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
