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

Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.

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

Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his residence 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.

Recent Health Challenges

During that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a spate of ill-health.

"I ended up damage myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."

Following contracting a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for half a year.

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

"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a few days ago," said the singer in a tribute.

"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."

Tributes

Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.

"Many thanks 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, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".

"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from being in a group, the bond is very tight," he added.

"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."

Early Life

Born 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 of age.

He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.

He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an EP.

Creative Collaboration

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

Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk perform on a television science show a popular series, and started to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.

Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting 21 million units globally. Alongside hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the way for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.

The track was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, 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 might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.

But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.

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

Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.

They put out another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate 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 dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.

Later Work and Comebacks

Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.

Following another hiatus, they returned in 2018, issuing 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 together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.

Ball recently described the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their initial records.

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

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

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

"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 80s."

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