The talented musician, a key member 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 first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my wrist."
Following contracting pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we actually finished only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense part 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, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Born 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 old.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and began to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of 1981, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also included on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford 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 caused problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"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 pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a follow-up classic album - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
Yet, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently described the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their initial records.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we had in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
