Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
After contracting pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we literally completed only a few days ago," said the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "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 immense part of my life and for the music you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a group, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a single-parent household 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 given name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on a television science show a popular series, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million copies worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having money and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus 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 mixed acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
Yet, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene 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 coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
