The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After catching pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we actually completed only a short time ago," stated 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 fact that he listened to the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to 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.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable moments together. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling song of 1981, selling 21 million units globally. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song 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 separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having money and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a second memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their first two albums.
He noted that his period in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
