The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about five ribs and fractured my arm."
Following catching a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we literally finished only a few days ago," said the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show a popular series, and began to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting millions of units globally. Alongside hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their first album, their initial LP, which spawned two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford substances to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to create a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they returned in recent years, 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 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they remained together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their initial records.
He noted that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball died. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
