The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and cracked about five ribs and fractured my arm."
Following catching a lung infection and suffering from 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 new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we actually completed only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as 2026 was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, 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 was raised in Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of the early 80s, shifting millions of copies globally. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way 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 top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having money and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful 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 enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in recent years, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his period in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from those days.
"In parallel, 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 the spring of 2026.
