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

Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of electronic music.

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

Ball died calmly in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.

Recent Health Challenges

At that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of ill-health.

"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae 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 stayed in the hospital for half a year.

However, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release next year.

"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we actually completed only a few days ago," stated 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 take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."

Tributes

Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.

"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the music you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."

His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".

"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from being in a group, the bond is incredibly close," he added.

"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming moments together. Many thanks, Dave."

Early Life

Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.

He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.

He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an EP.

Musical Partnership

The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.

Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on BBC program a popular series, and began to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.

Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units globally. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.

The track 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 1982.

Career Highlights

Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a publication.

But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.

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

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

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

Almond proceeded to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.

Reunions and Final Projects

Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.

After a further hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, that year.

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

Ball lately characterized the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their first two albums.

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

"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," 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 got up to in the 1980s."

The final mixes were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is due for release in Spring 2026.