The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
Following catching pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"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 you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is distinct from being in a group, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his given name from his birth name to David, alongside his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units globally. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they stayed active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we had in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
