The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He later formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in 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, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we actually finished only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described 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 significant part of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program a popular series, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, selling 21 million copies globally. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further high-charting hits: 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 loved being able to afford my first home, having money and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to focus 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 created The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they remained together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while recording their initial records.
He noted that his period in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
