The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He later founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that show, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after 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 five ribs and broke my wrist."
After catching pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we actually finished only a few days ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the music you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming moments together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, 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 his birth name to David, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of the early 80s, selling 21 million copies globally. Together with hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.
Professional Journey
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase substances to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more 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 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 long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their initial records.
He added that his period in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball died. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
