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

Together with singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a classic of electronic music.

He later formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.

Ball died peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.

Health Struggles

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

"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."

After catching pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for half a year.

Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.

"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album 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 knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."

Tributes

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

"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."

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

"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.

"That was the case 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 old.

He grew up in Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.

He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.

Creative Collaboration

The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a rare creative synergy.

Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and began to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.

Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling millions of copies globally. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.

The track was also included on their first album, their initial LP, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.

Career Highlights

Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford 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 challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase substances to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, 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 drifting apart, but they managed to produce a second memorable record - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.

They released one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on other projects.

Almond went on to have a successful solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house 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 returned in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, that year.

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

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

He added that his time in hospital had influenced the group's music.

"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.

"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from that time.

"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 80s."

The final mixes were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.