The talented musician, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the duo scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
Following catching a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and remained in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we actually completed only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, memorable moments together. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his sibling his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling millions of units globally. Together with successful tracks by other artists, Human League 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 produced two additional high-charting hits: 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
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a follow-up memorable record - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on individual endeavors.
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 combined acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, 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 intended to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, that year.
However, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his time in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
