The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist 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 later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my wrist."
Following catching pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we literally finished only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as 2026 was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant 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, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable moments 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 old.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from Paul to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing the band 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 UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it helped cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record 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 money and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase substances to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they remained together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his time in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I had unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball died. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
