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

Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the duo achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.

He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.

Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.

Recent Health Challenges

At that show, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.

"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."

Following catching a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.

However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.

"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album 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 positive time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."

Tributes

Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.

"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."

Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".

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

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

Formative Years

Brought into the world into a one-parent family in 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 first name from Paul to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.

He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.

Creative Collaboration

The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.

Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television program Tomorrow's World, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.

Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, selling 21 million units globally. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.

The track was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.

Career Highlights

Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.

But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.

"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."

Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.

They released one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on other projects.

Almond went on to have a successful individual path, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.

Reunions and Final Projects

Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.

Following a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, that year.

However, they remained active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.

Ball recently described the band's upcoming release as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.

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

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

"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from that time.

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

The final mixes were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.