The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After catching pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we literally finished only a few days ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the completed album 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 core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, memorable moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
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 of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his sibling his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and started to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of the early 80s, shifting millions of copies globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to paved the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded 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 dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in recent years, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
However, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He noted that his period in medical care had shaped 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 music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
