Dave Ball, one half of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the duo achieved a global success with their cover 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 innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
After catching a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and remained in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we actually completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as 2026 was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "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 significant part of my existence and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"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 remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk perform on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of the early 80s, shifting millions of units worldwide. Together with successful tracks by other artists, 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 full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches meant we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a second memorable record - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently described the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
