Dave Ball, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After catching pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a few days ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. 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 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, alongside his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of 1981, shifting millions of units worldwide. Together with successful tracks by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to paved 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 further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having money and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up memorable record - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed 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 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further break, they returned in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they stayed active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their initial records.
He noted that his period in hospital had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
