The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about five ribs and fractured my arm."
After catching a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we actually completed only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"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 "an exceptionally talented musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from being in a group, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who changed his given name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television program a popular series, and started to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling millions of copies worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches meant we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, 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 drifting apart, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
Almond went on 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 acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they returned in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they remained together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his time in hospital had influenced the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
