The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After catching a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting 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."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from being in a group, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to David, alongside his sibling his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show a popular series, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million copies worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having money and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a follow-up memorable record - the wayward, 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 band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
However, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their initial records.
He noted that his time in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
