The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team achieved 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 considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following catching pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect 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, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Born 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 old.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million copies globally. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their first album, 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 peaked at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having money and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to create a second classic album - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on other projects.
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 combined acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further break, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
However, they remained active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately characterized the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
