🔗 Share this article

The talented musician, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.

Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.

He later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.

Ball passed away 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.

Recent Health Challenges

At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.

"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."

After catching a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for seven months.

However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.

"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we actually completed only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.

"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."

Heartfelt Messages

Almond referred to his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.

"Many thanks Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the music you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."

His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".

"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he continued.

"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Thank you, Dave."

Formative Years

Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.

He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.

He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a shared love 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 musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a unique creative synergy.

Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.

Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting millions of copies globally. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.

The song was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.

Career Highlights

Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.

But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches meant we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.

"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."

During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a follow-up classic album - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.

They put out another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to focus on other projects.

Almond proceeded 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 acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.

Reunions and Final Projects

Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.

After a further break, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, 2018.

However, they remained active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.

Ball recently characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.

He noted that his time in medical care had influenced the group's music.

"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.

"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from those days.

"In parallel, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 80s."

The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in Spring 2026.