The talented musician, a key member of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the pair achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
Following contracting pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album 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 time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of 1981, selling 21 million copies worldwide. Alongside hits by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase substances to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
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 mixed acid house with ambient pop over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they returned in recent years, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their first two albums.
He noted that his period in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
