The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and fractured 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 hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the latest project that we actually finished only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting year 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."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television science show a popular series, and began to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular single of the early 80s, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the way 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 album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a follow-up classic album - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous individual path, 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.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the original singles 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, 2018.
Yet, they remained active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his time in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
