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The talented musician, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.

Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of electronic music.

He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.

Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.

Recent Health Challenges

At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.

"I managed to damage myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."

Following contracting pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for half a year.

Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.

"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.

"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."

Tributes

Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.

"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."

Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".

"Forming 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, memorable experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."

Formative Years

Born into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.

He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his first name from Paul to David, alongside his sibling his sister, who was similarly welcomed.

He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a shared love of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an extended play.

Musical Partnership

The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a unique creative synergy.

Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television program Tomorrow's World, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.

Their signature song became the UK's second most popular single of 1981, shifting 21 million units globally. Together with hits by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.

The song was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.

Professional Journey

Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a publication.

But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.

"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."

During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.

They put out one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to focus on other projects.

Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.

Later Work and Comebacks

Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.

Following a further break, they returned in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.

However, they remained active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.

Ball lately characterized the band's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while making their first two albums.

He added that his period in medical care had shaped the band's sound.

"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.

"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from those days.

"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."

The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.