Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died 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 their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following catching a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we literally finished only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my existence and for the songs 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 "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a shared love of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television science show a popular series, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford substances to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned 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 large venue on September 30, 2018.
However, they remained active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently described the band's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their initial records.
He added that his period in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
