The talented musician, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and fractured about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from Paul to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling 21 million copies worldwide. Alongside hits by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed 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 first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, 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 top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they returned in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
However, they remained active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
