The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we actually finished only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was all set to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", 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 life and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in the late 50s, 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 his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, selling 21 million units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced 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 number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
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 recently told with a publication.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to create a second classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further break, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they remained active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately characterized the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while making their initial records.
He noted that his period in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
