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The talented musician, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.

Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the pair achieved a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.

He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.

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

Recent Health Challenges

During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.

"I ended up injure myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and fractured about five ribs and fractured my arm."

After catching a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for half a year.

However, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.

"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.

"It's so sad as 2026 was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."

Tributes

Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.

"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you gave me. I couldn'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 duo with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.

"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming moments together. Many thanks, Dave."

Early Life

Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.

He was raised in Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.

He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an extended play.

Musical Partnership

The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.

Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and started to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.

Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling single of 1981, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Together with hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.

The track was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.

Professional Journey

Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.

But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.

"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."

Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.

They put out another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on other projects.

Almond went on to have a successful solo career, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.

Reunions and Final Projects

Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.

Following a further hiatus, they returned in 2018, 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 large venue on September 30, that year.

Yet, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.

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

He added that his time in hospital had influenced the band's sound.

"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.

"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from those days.

"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."

The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.