🔗 Share this article

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 team achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.

He subsequently formed the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.

Ball died calmly in his sleep at his residence 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 performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.

"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my wrist."

Following contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for seven months.

However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.

"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we actually completed only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.

"It's truly heartbreaking as next year 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 believed that it was a great piece of work."

Heartfelt Messages

Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented 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 significant part of my existence and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."

His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".

"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.

"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."

Formative Years

Born 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 Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.

He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, 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 recorded an extended play.

Creative Collaboration

The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.

Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.

Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.

The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.

Professional Journey

Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a publication.

But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase substances to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.

"I know that's a cliché, 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 drifting apart, but they managed to create a follow-up classic album - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.

They put out another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.

Almond went on to have a successful individual path, featuring 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 enduring collaboration.

Reunions and Final Projects

Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.

Following 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 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 characterized the band's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their first two albums.

He added that his period in medical care had influenced the group's music.

"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.

"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from those days.

"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 80s."

The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.