The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the duo achieved a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After contracting pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable moments together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who changed his given name from his birth name 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 learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, selling millions of units worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two further top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having money and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a second classic album - the wayward, tense 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 concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in 2018, releasing the original singles 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.
However, they remained active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced the group's music.
"I had unusual memories 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 noises in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
