The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.
"I ended up injure myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about five ribs and broke my wrist."
After contracting pneumonia 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 mentally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we actually finished only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you 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 your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it helped cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security 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 afford substances to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they stayed together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
