The talented musician, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a classic of synth-pop.
He later formed the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following contracting a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we literally finished only a few days ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is distinct from being in a band, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, alongside his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and makeup; but they attained 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 started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, selling 21 million copies worldwide. Alongside hits by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant 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 works for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a follow-up classic album - the wayward, tense 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 focus 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 combined dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they reappeared in recent years, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they remained together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their first two albums.
He noted that his period in hospital had influenced 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 electronic representation of the sounds in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
