Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
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 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.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and cracked about five ribs and broke my wrist."
After catching a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated 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 find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the music you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair 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 unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program 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 single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way 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 record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up memorable record - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they stayed active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their initial records.
He noted that his time in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
