The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team 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 electronic music.
He later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
After catching a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we actually completed only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as 2026 was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "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 life and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a shared love of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show a popular series, and began to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of 1981, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a second classic album - 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 band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous 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 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 break, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they remained together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their first two albums.
He added that his time in hospital had influenced 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 music magazine.
"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 got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
