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Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.

Together with singer Marc Almond, the pair achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of synth-pop.

He later formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.

Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.

Recent Health Challenges

During that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of health issues.

"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."

After contracting a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for seven months.

However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called 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 tribute.

"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 great piece of work."

Tributes

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

"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."

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

"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.

"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."

Early Life

Born 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 grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from Paul to David, alongside his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.

He met Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.

Creative Collaboration

The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.

Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.

Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular single of the early 80s, selling 21 million copies globally. Together with hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.

The track was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

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

Career Highlights

Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.

But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.

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

Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.

They released one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on other projects.

Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.

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

Yet, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.

Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their initial records.

He added that his time in medical care had influenced the group's music.

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

"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from those days.

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

The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.