The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer 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 seminal work of synth-pop.
He later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his residence 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.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about five ribs and fractured my arm."
After catching pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we actually completed only a short time ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud 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 wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from being in a group, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming moments together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of 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 his caregivers, who altered his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program a popular series, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling single of 1981, selling millions of units globally. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, 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 number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having money and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches meant we could afford substances 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 valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another break, they reappeared in 2018, 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 30 September, 2018.
However, they remained active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
