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

Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the pair achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.

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

Ball died calmly in his sleep 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

At 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 commented in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about five ribs and broke my wrist."

After catching a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for seven months.

However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.

"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we actually completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.

"It's truly heartbreaking as 2026 was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."

Heartfelt Messages

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

"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my existence 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, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".

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

"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."

Early Life

Brought into the world into a single-parent household in 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 changed his given name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.

He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an extended play.

Musical Partnership

The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a rare creative synergy.

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

Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Alongside hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.

The song was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

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

Professional Journey

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

But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.

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

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

They put out another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to focus on other projects.

Almond went on 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 the early 2000s, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.

Following another hiatus, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.

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

Ball lately described the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their initial records.

He noted that his period in medical care had shaped the band's sound.

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

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

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

The last versions were finished only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.