Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk perform on BBC program a popular series, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of 1981, shifting 21 million units globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional top five 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.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having money and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed 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 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another break, they returned in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on September 30, 2018.
However, they remained active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the duo's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.