The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He later formed the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
Following catching pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the latest project that we actually finished only a short time ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming moments together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his given name from his birth name to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program Tomorrow's World, and started to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling 21 million copies globally. Alongside hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which spawned two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, 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 financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting record 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 staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they stayed together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
