The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He later formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At 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 damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following catching pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we literally finished only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the music you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo 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, extraordinary, life-affirming moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and started to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting 21 million copies globally. Alongside hits by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having money and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus 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 ambient pop over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they returned in 2018, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
However, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while recording their initial records.
He noted that his period in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
