The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about five ribs and broke my arm."
After catching a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year 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 great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is distinct from being in a band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting millions of copies globally. Together with hits by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it helped cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further break, they returned in 2018, releasing 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 September 30, that year.
Yet, they remained active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the band's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their initial records.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced 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 electronic representation of the noises in my head from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
