The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a period of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my arm."
Following contracting pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, alongside his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair 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 attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show a popular series, and started to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting 21 million copies worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, tense 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 individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further break, they returned in recent years, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they remained active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently 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 period in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
