The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following catching pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household 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 Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk perform on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, selling millions of copies globally. Together with hits by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to create a second classic album - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful 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 enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they reappeared 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 O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they stayed active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the duo's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their initial records.
He noted that his time in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of the 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 those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball died. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
