Dave Ball, one half of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a classic of electronic music.
He later formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a period of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
Following contracting a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed 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 1977, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television science show a popular series, and began to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of the early 80s, selling 21 million copies worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having money and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another 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 O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently described the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.
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 told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
