Dave Ball, one half of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the pair achieved a global success 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 subsequently founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
Following contracting pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we literally completed only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense part of my existence 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, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, 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.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units globally. Alongside hits by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional 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.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, that year.
However, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their initial records.
He added that his period in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I had 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 sounds in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
