The talented musician, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the duo scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about five ribs and broke my arm."
Following catching a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we literally finished only a few days ago," said the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace 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.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He grew up in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and began to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling single of 1981, shifting millions of units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce 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 individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they stayed together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the band's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his period 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 electronic representation of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
