The talented musician, a key member of the innovative 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single 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 featured performance 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 last two years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we actually finished only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming moments together. 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 put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program a popular series, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The track was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having money and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second memorable record - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous individual path, featuring 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 long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they returned in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
Yet, they remained active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's new album as a homage 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 experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we had in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
