The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the duo 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 regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we actually completed only a few days ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable moments 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 put up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television science show a popular series, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having money and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further 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.
However, they remained active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their initial records.
He noted that his time 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 explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 80s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
