The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of health issues.
"I ended up injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
After catching pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we literally finished only a few days ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"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."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable moments 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 the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his sibling his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of 1981, selling millions of units globally. Alongside hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a second memorable record - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He added that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
