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

Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.

He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.

Ball passed away 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 Festival in the Thames-side town.

Recent Health Challenges

At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.

"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my arm."

After catching a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.

However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming 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 truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."

Tributes

Almond referred to his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.

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

Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".

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

"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences 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 given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.

He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his first name from his birth name to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.

He met 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 same year, and promptly produced an extended play.

Musical Partnership

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

Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.

Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of 1981, selling millions of copies globally. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.

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

They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.

Career Highlights

Fame had its benefits. "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 challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.

"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."

Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.

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

Almond went on to have a prosperous individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.

Reunions and Final Projects

Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.

After a further break, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.

Yet, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.

Ball lately described the band's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.

He noted that his time in medical care 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.

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

"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 1980s."

The final mixes were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.