Dave Ball, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team 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 regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He later formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my wrist."
Following catching a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk perform on a television science show a popular series, and began to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of the early 80s, shifting millions of units worldwide. Alongside hits by Gary Numan, Human League and Ultravox, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase substances to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to focus on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, featuring 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 partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, releasing 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 September 30, 2018.
However, they stayed together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their initial records.
He added that his period in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 80s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
