Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer 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 debut album their initial full-length release is considered a classic of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following contracting pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as 2026 was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented 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 part of my existence and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is distinct from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. 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 a year and a half of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling millions of units globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to create a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in recent years, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they stayed active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their initial records.
He added that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out 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 mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
