🔗 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 vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.

He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.

Ball died peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.

Recent Health Challenges

During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of ill-health.

"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about five ribs and fractured my arm."

Following contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for seven months.

However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.

"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we actually finished only a short time ago," said the singer in a heartfelt message.

"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."

Tributes

Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.

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

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

"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is incredibly close," he added.

"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."

Early Life

Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in the late 50s, 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 altered his first name from his birth name to David, alongside his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.

He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.

Musical Partnership

The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they attained a rare creative synergy.

Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on BBC program a popular series, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.

Their signature song became the UK's second most popular song of 1981, selling millions of copies globally. Alongside hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the way for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.

The track 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 record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.

Professional Journey

Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.

But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.

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

Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.

They released one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group 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 combined acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.

Later Work and Comebacks

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

Following a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, 2018.

However, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.

Ball lately described the duo's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.

He added that his time in hospital had shaped the band's sound.

"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.

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

"In parallel, it's about the times we had in the 80s."

The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.