The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of synth-pop.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly 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 music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following catching pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we literally completed only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
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 Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk appear on BBC program a popular series, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling song of 1981, selling 21 million copies globally. Together with hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further top five hits: 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 benefits. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a follow-up memorable record - 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 dissolving the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, that year.
Yet, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently described the band's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going 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 we had in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
