The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He subsequently founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of health issues.
"I ended up injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my back and fractured about five ribs and fractured my arm."
Following catching pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we actually completed only a few days ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to 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 immense aspect of my existence 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, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a group, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to David, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television science show a popular series, and began to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million copies globally. Alongside hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to focus on other projects.
Almond went on to have a prosperous individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, 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, 2018.
However, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their initial records.
He noted that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
