The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the duo achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He later formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we actually completed only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant 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, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
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 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk perform on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second most popular single of 1981, selling 21 million copies globally. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a second memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds 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 another hiatus, they returned in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the duo's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
