Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and cracked about five ribs and broke my arm."
After contracting a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as 2026 was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace 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 musical genius", stating: "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 significant aspect of my life 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, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an extended play.
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 achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program a popular series, and began to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up memorable record - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous individual path, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
