Dave Ball, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
Following contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we actually finished only a short time ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented 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 immense aspect of my existence and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from being in a band, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of 1981, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The track was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase substances to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a second memorable record - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
However, they stayed together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the duo's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
