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The talented musician, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.

Alongside singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.

He later formed the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.

Ball died peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.

Recent Health Challenges

During that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of ill-health.

"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my arm."

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

However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.

"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we literally finished only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.

"It's so sad as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."

Heartfelt Messages

Almond described his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.

"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."

His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".

"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he continued.

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

Early Life

Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months old.

He was raised in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from Paul to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.

He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an extended play.

Musical Partnership

The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.

Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television science show a popular series, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.

Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, selling 21 million units worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved 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 high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.

Career Highlights

Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.

But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.

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

During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a second classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.

They released another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to focus on individual endeavors.

Almond went on to have a successful individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.

Later Work and Comebacks

Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album 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 farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, that year.

Yet, they stayed together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.

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 time in hospital had shaped the group's music.

"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.

"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from those days.

"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."

The last versions were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.