The talented musician, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae 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 medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we literally completed only a short time ago," said 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 knowledge that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from his birth name to his adopted name, alongside his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program Tomorrow's World, and started to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of the early 80s, selling millions of copies worldwide. Alongside hits by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to 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 spawned two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having money and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with ambient pop over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on September 30, 2018.
However, they remained active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the duo's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their initial records.
He noted that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball died. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
