The talented musician, a key member of the innovative 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
After catching a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we actually finished only a few days ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his given name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting millions of units worldwide. Alongside hits by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism 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 unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the Top 40 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 large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they remained together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while recording their first two albums.
He added that his time in hospital had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
