Dave Ball, one half of the pioneering 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the duo scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a period 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 arm."
After catching pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the warmer months, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we actually completed only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and started to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of 1981, selling 21 million units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, 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 problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release 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 chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they returned in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
However, they remained active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while making their initial records.
He added that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
