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Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.

Together with singer 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 later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.

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

Health Struggles

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

"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and cracked about five ribs and broke my arm."

After contracting pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for seven months.

Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits 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 concentrated and so happy with the new album that we actually finished only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.

"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."

Tributes

Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.

"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."

His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".

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

"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."

Formative Years

Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.

He was raised in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.

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

Creative Collaboration

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

Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on BBC program a popular series, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.

Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular single of 1981, shifting millions of units worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.

The song was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned 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 the following year.

Career Highlights

Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.

But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.

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

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

They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.

Almond went on to have a prosperous individual path, including 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.

Reunions and Final Projects

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

After another hiatus, they returned in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, 2018.

However, they remained active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.

Ball recently characterized the band's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their initial records.

He added that his time in hospital had influenced the band's sound.

"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.

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

"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 80s."

The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in Spring 2026.