The talented musician, a key member of the innovative 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
Following catching a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a few days 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 fact that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units globally. Together with hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having money and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase substances to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to create a second classic album - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, that year.
However, they stayed together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the band's upcoming release as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their initial records.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
