🔗 Share this article

Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.

Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of electronic music.

He subsequently formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.

Ball died peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event 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 spate of health issues.

"I managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my wrist."

After contracting a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for seven months.

Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for release next year.

"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated 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 find comfort from the fact that he heard 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 legacy.

"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."

His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".

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

"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."

Early Life

Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.

He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.

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

Creative Collaboration

The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.

Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.

Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, selling 21 million units globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.

The track was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.

Professional Journey

Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having money and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.

But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.

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

Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, edgy 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 focus on other projects.

Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.

Later Work and Comebacks

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

After another break, they returned in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.

However, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.

Ball lately characterized the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their initial records.

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

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

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

"In parallel, it's about the experiences 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 the spring of 2026.