Dave Ball, one half of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
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 managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about five ribs and fractured my arm."
After catching pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally completed only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the music you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, alongside his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
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 same year, and quickly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, selling millions of units worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having money and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further break, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
However, they remained together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I had unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times we had in the 80s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
