The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a spate of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we actually completed only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased 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 you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
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 a year and a half of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who altered his first name from his birth name to David, alongside his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling single of 1981, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having money and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase substances to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled 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 successful individual path, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they returned in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, that year.
Yet, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
