The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After catching pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep 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 fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we actually finished only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable moments together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world 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 grew up in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and began to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, selling 21 million units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and Ultravox, it helped paved the way for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase substances to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a prosperous individual path, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they returned in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, that year.
However, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He noted that his time in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
