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

Alongside singer Marc Almond, the duo achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of electronic music.

He later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.

Ball died calmly in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.

Recent Health Challenges

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

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

Following contracting a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.

However, 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 scheduled for release next year.

"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we literally completed 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 uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."

Tributes

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

"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."

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

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

"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable moments together. Thank you, Dave."

Formative Years

Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.

He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to David, alongside his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.

He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a shared love of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an extended play.

Musical Partnership

The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.

Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on a television program a popular series, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.

Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of 1981, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Alongside hits by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.

The track was also included on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two further top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

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

Professional Journey

Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having money and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.

But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.

"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, 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 wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.

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

Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.

Later Work and Comebacks

Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.

Following a further break, they returned in 2018, releasing 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 30 September, 2018.

Yet, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.

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

He added that his period in hospital had shaped the band's sound.

"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.

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

"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 80s."

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