Dave Ball, one half of the pioneering 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following catching a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we actually finished only a few days ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the finished record 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 extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a one-parent family in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his given name from Paul to David, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
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 established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television science show a popular series, and started to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second most popular song of 1981, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which spawned two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having money and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a second memorable record - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous individual path, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
However, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks 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 completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
