The talented musician, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a period of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
Following catching pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his first name from Paul to David, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which spawned two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase substances to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, 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 O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
Yet, they remained active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately described the duo's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their initial records.
He added that his time 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 told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from those days.
"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.
