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The talented musician, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.

Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team 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 classic of electronic music.

He subsequently founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.

Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.

Recent Health Challenges

At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.

"I ended up damage myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."

After catching a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and remained in hospital for seven months.

However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.

"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we actually finished only a short time ago," said the singer 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 knowledge that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."

Tributes

Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", 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 songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."

Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".

"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he added.

"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Thank you, Dave."

Formative Years

Born into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.

He was raised in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who changed his given name from Paul to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.

He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an extended play.

Creative Collaboration

The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.

Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.

Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of the early 80s, selling millions of copies globally. Alongside hits by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.

The track was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which spawned two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.

Professional Journey

Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a publication.

But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.

"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."

Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.

They put out another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to focus on individual endeavors.

Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, 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 partnership.

Later Work and Comebacks

Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.

After a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the original singles 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, that year.

Yet, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.

Ball recently described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute 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 strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.

"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 got up to in the 1980s."

The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.