English electronic music producer and one-half of the synth-pop duo Soft Cell, Dave Ball, has passed away at 66 years old. He’s also known for being a part of the acid house act The Grid.
Ball “passed away peacefully in his sleep at his London home” on Oct. 22, the band’s website explained.
His death comes after performing alongside Soft Cell band member, Marc Almond, at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames, England, in August. The site noted that they headlined the festival in front of over 20,000 fans.
Ball and Almond created the band as 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,” the site said. “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.”
From 1982 to 2021, the band released four more 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.’”
Following his passing, Almond revealed that they had just completed a new album “only a few days ago.”
“It’s so sad as 2026 was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work,” Almond said. “Dave’s music is better than ever. His tunes and hooks are still unmistakably Soft Cell, yet he always took it to the next level, too. He was a wonderfully brilliant musical genius and the pair of us have been on a journey together for almost 50 years. In the early days, we were obnoxious and difficult, two belligerent art students who wanted to do things our way, even if it was the wrong way. We were naïve and made mistakes, although we never really saw them as such. It was all just a part of the adventure. Dave and I were always a bit chalk-and-cheese, but maybe that’s why the chemistry between us worked so well.”
Known as a “fearless sonic innovator,” he was known to create “12-inch mixes of the singles, often splicing segments of tape together with razor blades, to give the band a decisive, club-friendly edge.”
In the ’90s, he served as one-half of The Grid alongside Richard Norris, which was known for the hit “Swamp Thing.”
“Dave has been a huge part of my musical life for many years. Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a band: the bond is very tight,” Norris said. “That’s how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Thank you, Dave. Thanks for the good times, the endless laughter, your unwavering friendship. Most of all, thank you for the music.”
Ball was also an esteemed songwriter, producer and remixer working alongside David Bowie, Kylie Minogue and Pet Shop Boys.
While the cause of Ball’s death hasn’t been revealed, it was reported that he’d been dealing with health issues for some time.
Ball is survived by his four children.
The post Soft Cell’s Dave Ball, famous for ‘Tainted Love’, dies at 66 appeared first on KTLA.
