Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing 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, following a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following contracting a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we actually finished only a short time ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as 2026 was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household 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 the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from Paul to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk perform on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and Ultravox, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they remained active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while recording their initial records.
He added that his period in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
