Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a classic of synth-pop.
He later formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after 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 back and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After catching pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album 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 time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming moments together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a one-parent family in the city of 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 Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units globally. Alongside hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style 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 record up with the separate release, 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 travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, including 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 partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
However, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his period in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
