Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair achieved a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about five ribs and broke my wrist."
Following contracting a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we actually completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was put 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 younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television program a popular series, and started to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular single of the early 80s, shifting millions of units globally. Together with hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album 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 afford my first home, having money and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could afford substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - 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 group to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned in 2018, 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 O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they stayed active, recording their latest project, 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 recording their initial records.
He added that his time in hospital 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.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
