Dave Ball, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of synth-pop.
He later formed the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved 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 performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following catching a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we actually completed only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"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 you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in Blackpool 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 the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million copies globally. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which spawned two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, 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 follow-up classic album - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, 1984's 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 created The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in 2018, 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 large venue on September 30, that year.
Yet, they remained together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his time in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
