The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 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' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He later formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
Following contracting a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we actually completed only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence 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 wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in Blackpool 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 encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of 1981, selling 21 million units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase substances to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the charting 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 staging what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they stayed active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their initial records.
He noted that his period in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 80s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
