The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the duo scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded 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 October 22, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during 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 very pleased with the new album that we literally finished only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his given name from Paul to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling 21 million copies globally. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Professional Journey
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase substances to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, including 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.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further break, 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, 2018.
However, they stayed together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
