The talented musician, a key member of the innovative 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that show, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and cracked about five ribs and fractured my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, 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 Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk perform on BBC program a popular series, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling single of 1981, selling millions of copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the way for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further top five 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 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches meant we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews 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 musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a second memorable record - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous individual path, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another break, they returned in 2018, releasing the original singles 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, that year.
However, they remained active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He noted that his period in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
