Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television program a popular series, and started to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of the early 80s, shifting millions of units globally. Alongside hits by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded 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 dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the band's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their initial records.
He added that his period in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
