The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming 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 positive year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased 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."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who changed his given name from his birth name to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting millions of units globally. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, 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 travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on other projects.
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 mixed acid house with ambient pop over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the charting record 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 performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
However, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind 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 died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
