Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of synth-pop.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away 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 music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following contracting pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put 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 altered his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk perform on BBC science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of 1981, shifting millions of copies globally. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the way for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band 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 mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they returned in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their initial records.
He added that his period in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
