The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, 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 fractured lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
Following catching a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"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 knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you gave 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".
"Forming a duo with someone is distinct from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world 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 was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million copies globally. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I loved 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 caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies 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 wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band 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 acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they stayed active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
