Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about five ribs and broke my wrist."
Following catching pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we actually completed only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "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 aspect of my life and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He grew up in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of the early 80s, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Together with hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
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 combined dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they reappeared in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on September 30, 2018.
However, they stayed active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while recording their initial records.
He added that his time in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
