The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about five ribs and fractured my arm."
Following contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we literally completed only a short time ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who altered his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on a television science show 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 millions of copies globally. Alongside hits by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a second classic album - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, including the top 10 hit 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.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks 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 stayed active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently described the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He noted that his time in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced 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 digital reflection of the noises in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we had in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
