The talented musician, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my wrist."
Following contracting pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we literally finished only a few days ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, 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. Alongside hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success 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 shared with a publication.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released 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, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed dance music 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 another break, they returned in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
Yet, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently described the band's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their first two albums.
He noted that his period in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories 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 sounds in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we had in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
