The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
After contracting pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we actually finished only a short time ago," said the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He was raised in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who altered his first name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of 1981, shifting millions of units globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in the following year.
Professional Journey
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having money and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a second classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they stayed active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their first two albums.
He noted that his period in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
