The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, 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 show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following catching pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn'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 duo with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his first name from Paul to David, together with his sibling his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and started to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of the early 80s, shifting millions of copies globally. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track 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 separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a second memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they returned in recent years, 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 large venue on September 30, that year.
Yet, they stayed together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately characterized the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while making their initial records.
He added that his period in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
