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

Together with singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.

He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.

Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.

Health Struggles

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

"I managed to injure myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."

Following catching a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for half a year.

Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming 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 tribute.

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

Heartfelt Messages

Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.

"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."

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

"Forming a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he added.

"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable experiences together. Thank you, Dave."

Formative Years

Born into a single-parent household in 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 changed his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, alongside his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.

He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.

Musical Partnership

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

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

Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of 1981, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Together with hits by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.

The song was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

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

Professional Journey

Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.

But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.

"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."

Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.

They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate 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 acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.

Later Work and Comebacks

Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.

After a further break, they returned in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, that year.

However, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.

Ball recently characterized the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.

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

"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.

"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time.

"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."

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