The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a classic of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball appeared 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 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the latest project that we actually completed only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as 2026 was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given 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 changed his first name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk perform on BBC science show Tomorrow's World, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of the early 80s, selling millions of units globally. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their first album, their initial LP, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase substances to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another 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 solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another break, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
However, they stayed together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately characterized 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 period in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
