The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He later formed the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
After contracting a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled 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 vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "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 part of my existence and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a one-parent family in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered 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 shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television program Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, selling millions of copies globally. Together with hits by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it helped paved the way for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, 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, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the duo's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while recording their initial records.
He noted that his time in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
