The talented musician, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest 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 the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk perform on BBC science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second most popular song of the early 80s, selling 21 million units worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they returned in 2018, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
However, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately characterized the band's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their initial records.
He noted that his time in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
