The talented musician, one half of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the duo achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After catching pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we literally finished only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect 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, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC science show a popular series, and started to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the UK's second most popular song of the early 80s, selling millions of copies globally. Together with hits by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a second memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned in recent years, 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, 2018.
However, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
