The talented musician, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
Following contracting a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we actually completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his given name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million copies worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their first album, 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 peaked at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the duo 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 put out one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further break, they returned in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, that year.
Yet, they stayed active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
