The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest 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 the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
After catching a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," said the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, memorable experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up 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 Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show 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 biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling millions of units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché 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 produce a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the new tracks 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, that year.
However, they remained together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the band's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their initial records.
He noted that his period in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
