🔗 Share this article

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

Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.

He later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.

Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing 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 previous couple of years, following a spate of ill-health.

"I managed to damage myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my arm."

Following catching a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for seven months.

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

"He was concentrated and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.

"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."

Heartfelt Messages

Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud 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."

Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".

"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.

"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."

Early Life

Brought into the world 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 grew up in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.

He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.

Musical Partnership

The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a rare creative synergy.

Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.

Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of the early 80s, shifting millions of units globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, 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 spawned two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

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

Career Highlights

Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.

But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford substances to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.

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

During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a follow-up memorable record - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.

They released one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on individual endeavors.

Almond went on 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 mixed acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.

Later Work and Comebacks

Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.

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

However, they stayed active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.

Ball recently characterized the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while recording their first two albums.

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

"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.

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

"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 80s."

The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.