This announcement was posted to Soft Cell's official site:
Electronic music pioneer Dave Ball, one half of groundbreaking electronic music duo Soft Cell and successful acid house act The Grid, passed away peacefully in his sleep at his London home on Wednesday 22nd October. He was 66. Singer Marc Almond, Dave’s musical collaborator of 46 years and Soft Cell bandmate, leads the tributes, describing Dave as a “wonderfully brilliant musical genius”. What turns out to be Dave’s final appearance with the band came only weeks ago at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames, where Soft Cell headlined in front of over 20,000 fans.
Formed when electronic musician Dave and singer Marc were both art students at Leeds Polytechnic in 1979, Soft Cell helped to define the sound of British music in the 1980s and beyond. Their 1981 debut album, ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’, changed the course of pop and paved the way for an avalanche of synth-based duos, including Yazoo, Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys and Erasure, while bringing something deliciously dark to the table. Their second single, ‘Tainted Love’, b/w ‘Where Did Our Love Go’, topped the charts in the UK and 17 countries around the world and was certified as Britain’s best-selling single of 1981.
A fan of northern soul and Kraftwerk, Dave had moved from Blackpool to Leeds to study fine art and first worked with Marc when he supplied an electronic backdrop to a piece of Marc’s improvised performance art, accidentally establishing a winning template that would cast Almond as the outgoing showman and lyricist and Ball as his quiet, poker-faced foil – a foil who went on to become a fearless sonic innovator.
Between 1982 and 2021, Soft Cell released four more studio albums – ‘The Art Of Falling Apart’, ‘This Last Night In Sodom’, ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’ and ‘*Happiness not included’ – plus what is considered as one of the first remix albums ‘Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing’. Dave and Marc also secured four more UK Top Ten singles in ‘Bedsitter’, ‘Torch’, ‘What!’, and ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’, with Dave also helping to create extended, 12-inch mixes of the singles, often splicing segments of tape together with razorblades, to give the band a decisive, club-friendly edge.
Their 2018 reunion concert in front of 20,000 fans at The O2 in London was intended as a grand farewell. Instead, in true Soft Cell style, it unwittingly provided the launching pad for a glittering resurgence that saw the band re-establish their live credentials. The duo celebrated the 40th anniversary of ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ by taking their acclaimed 1981 debut on tour in the UK and America. Since those memorable anniversary shows, they have also headlined Hampton Court Palace, Audley End’s Heritage Live and Blenheim Palace and played live in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Spain and at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Most recently the band had been back in the studio working on what will be their sixth – and now, sadly, final – studio album. Named after the legendary 1980s New York nightclub ‘Danceteria’ – a venue which once hosted a Soft Cell album launch – the album is due to be released in spring 2026 via a new global deal with Republic Of Music. The final mixes were completed only days before Dave’s passing.
Away from Soft Cell, Dave was also one half of The Grid alongside esteemed musician and producer Richard Norris, with whom he enjoyed a string of chart successes in the 1990s, including the Top Three single and international hit ‘Swamp Thing’. An in-demand songwriter, producer and remixer, he worked with music superstars such as David Bowie, Kylie Minogue, Pet Shop Boys and Erasure as well as alternative artists such as Psychic TV and Gavin Friday.
In full tribute to Dave and his recent purple patch of songwriting and production, Soft Cell’s upcoming releases will remain as scheduled. This includes a super deluxe reissue of Soft Cell’s classic 1983 album ‘The Art Of Falling Apart’, a 6CD boxset complete with new remixes and dubs by Dave, and a ‘Martin’ EP, which are both released next Friday 31st October on Universal Music and Republic of Music respectively. The release date of the brand-new Soft Cell album ‘Danceteria’, which has been initially discussed by Marc and Dave in MOJO and Classic Pop interviews, is to be announced.
Dave’s passing is announced with great sadness and affection for this gregarious, warm-hearted man of many musical talents. Dave is survived by his close family including his four children. We would like to respect Dave Ball’s family’s privacy at this very sad time.
https://www.softcell.co.uk/
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