Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we actually completed only a few days ago," said the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace 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 "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, memorable moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
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 Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first 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 1977, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program a popular series, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second most popular single of 1981, selling 21 million units worldwide. Alongside hits by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path 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 high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in the following year.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
Yet, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their initial records.
He added that his time in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced 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 electronic representation of the noises in my head from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
