The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After contracting a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we actually completed only a few days ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"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 felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", adding: "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 immense aspect 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, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of the early 80s, shifting millions of units worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group 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 melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further break, they reappeared in recent years, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
Yet, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
