Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following contracting a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we actually finished only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge 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", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the music you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk perform on BBC science show a popular series, and started to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling single of 1981, shifting millions of units globally. Alongside hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared 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 high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame 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 music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches meant we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a second memorable record - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, that year.
However, they remained active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his period in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I had unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
