The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke 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 induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and felt 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.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from Paul to his adopted name, 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 studying art. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, selling millions of units globally. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having money and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous solo career, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing 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 performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they remained together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while making their first two albums.
He added that his time in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball died. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
