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 singer Marc Almond, the duo achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my arm."
After catching a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we actually finished only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as 2026 was all set to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the completed album 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 body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a band, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second most popular song of 1981, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further top five 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 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, that year.
However, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their initial records.
He noted that his time in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
