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The talented musician, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.

Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of synth-pop.

He later formed the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.

Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.

Health Struggles

During that show, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of health issues.

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

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

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

"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we actually finished only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.

"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."

Heartfelt Messages

Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.

"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."

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

"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.

"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."

Formative Years

Born 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 his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.

He encountered 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 promptly recorded an extended play.

Creative Collaboration

The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.

Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.

Their signature song became the UK's second most popular song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it helped cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.

The track was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned 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 the second position in 1982.

Professional Journey

Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.

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

"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."

Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.

They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on other projects.

Almond went on to have a successful solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.

Reunions and Final Projects

Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.

After another hiatus, they returned in recent years, issuing 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, that year.

However, they stayed together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.

Ball lately characterized the band's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.

He noted that his period in hospital had shaped the band's sound.

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

"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from those days.

"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 1980s."

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