The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the duo achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
After catching pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we actually completed only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set 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 "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant part of my existence and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, 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 given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his given name from Paul to David, alongside his sibling his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting millions of units globally. Alongside hits by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path 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 high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate 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 formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another break, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they stayed active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their first two albums.
He added that his time in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we had in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
