The talented musician, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After catching a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally finished only a few days ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of 1981, shifting millions of units worldwide. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the wayward, edgy 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 concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a prosperous individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they returned in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they stayed active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently described the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their initial records.
He added that his period in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
