The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following contracting pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we actually finished only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my existence and for the music 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".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, 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 the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who altered his first name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, selling millions of copies worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
However, they remained active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the duo's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their initial records.
He noted that his time in hospital had influenced the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going 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.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
