The talented musician, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music 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' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of synth-pop.
He later founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about five ribs and broke my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we actually finished only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", stating: "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 immense part of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
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 a year and a half old.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of 1981, selling 21 million units worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
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 ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, 2018.
However, they stayed together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
