Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the duo scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' 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 electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival 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 ended up injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After contracting a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a few days ago," said 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 knowledge that he listened to the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable moments together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show a popular series, and started to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, selling millions of copies globally. Together with hits by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it helped cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a follow-up memorable record - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another break, they returned in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, that year.
However, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He added that his time in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
