The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the pair achieved a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He later formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
Following catching pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally completed only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his given name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television science show a popular series, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting millions of units worldwide. Together with hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase substances to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
However, they remained active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently described the band's upcoming release as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their initial records.
He added that his time in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times we had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
