The talented musician, a key member of the innovative 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored 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 considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, 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 concentrated and so happy with the new album that we actually finished only a few days ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort 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 collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the UK's second most popular single of the early 80s, selling 21 million units globally. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to create a follow-up memorable record - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further break, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
