The talented musician, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the pair achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about five ribs and fractured my arm."
After contracting a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we literally finished only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences together. Many thanks, 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 18 months old.
He was raised in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of 1981, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Together with successful tracks by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it helped paved the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase substances to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another break, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
Yet, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times we had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
