The talented musician, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He later formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a period of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After catching pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally finished only a few days ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the songs you gave 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".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born 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 adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of the early 80s, shifting millions of units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford 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 caused problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford substances to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they returned in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they remained together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the band's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their first two albums.
He noted that his period in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
