Dave Ball, one half of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band 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 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He later founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of health issues.
"I ended up injure myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an uplifting time 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 collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", 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 life and for the songs 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 "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show a popular series, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of 1981, selling 21 million copies worldwide. Alongside hits by Gary Numan, Human League and Ultravox, it helped cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also included on their first album, 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.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches meant 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 good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to create a second classic album - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, that year.
However, they stayed together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his period in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
