Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the pair achieved a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, 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," 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 completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the music you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is distinct from being in a band, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, alongside his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular single of 1981, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having money and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a follow-up memorable record - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, 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 formed The Grid, who combined dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further break, they returned 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, 2018.
However, they remained active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while recording their initial records.
He added that his period 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 morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
