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

Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.

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

Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.

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 managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."

Following contracting pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.

However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.

"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally completed only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.

"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."

Tributes

Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented 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 significant part of my existence and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."

Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".

"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from being in a group, the bond is very tight," he continued.

"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable moments together. Thank you, Dave."

Formative Years

Born into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.

He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from Paul to David, together with his sibling his sister, who was similarly welcomed.

He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an EP.

Musical Partnership

The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.

Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.

Their signature song became the UK's second most popular single of the early 80s, selling 21 million copies globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.

The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.

Professional Journey

Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having money and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a publication.

But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.

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

During the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.

They released another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.

Almond went on to have a prosperous individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.

Reunions and Final Projects

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

After a further break, they returned in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.

Yet, they stayed active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.

Ball recently described the band's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.

He noted that his time in hospital had influenced the group's music.

"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.

"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time.

"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."

The last versions were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for release in Spring 2026.