Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the duo scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about five ribs and broke my arm."
Following catching a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we actually finished 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 listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant part of my existence and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television science show a popular series, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of the early 80s, shifting millions of units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned 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 the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford substances to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous solo career, including 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, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they returned in recent years, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, that year.
Yet, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his time in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
