Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
Following contracting pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," said the singer 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 finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense 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, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from being in a band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, alongside his sibling his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC science show a popular series, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of 1981, shifting millions of units worldwide. Alongside hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped paved the way for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The track was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which spawned two further top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having money and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, 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 released one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with ambient pop over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they remained active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He noted that his period in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I had unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times we had in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
