The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
Following catching pneumonia and developing 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" during the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the songs you created with 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 distinct from being in a group, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put 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 altered his first name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show a popular series, and started to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, selling 21 million copies globally. Together with hits by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another break, they returned in 2018, releasing the new tracks 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, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently described the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their initial records.
He added that his time in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we had in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
