The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
After catching pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we actually finished only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "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 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 "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born 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 Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk perform on BBC science show a popular series, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of 1981, selling millions of units globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song 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 followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches meant we could afford substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to create a second classic album - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they returned in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his period 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 explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we 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.
