The talented musician, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
Following catching pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the warmer months, 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 literally completed only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to 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 heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of 1981, selling 21 million copies globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford substances to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
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 dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another 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 final performance at the large venue on September 30, that year.
However, they remained together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their first two albums.
He noted that his period in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
