The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair achieved a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a classic of synth-pop.
He later formed the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about five ribs and broke my arm."
After contracting a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was all set to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you gave 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 partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine 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 units worldwide. Together with hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two further top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up memorable record - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
However, they remained active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
