One half of the synth-pop duo Soft Cell best known for its No 1 single Tainted Love
When the synth-pop duo Soft Cell formed in 1977, Dave Ball, who has died in his sleep aged 66, made the perfect foil for the vocalist Marc Almond. Where Almond was mercurial and histrionic, Ball assumed the role of mysterious and reclusive mastermind. Almond would invariably be writhing in something black and skin-tight, possibly festooned with zips, while Ball might be wearing a suit and tie and attending soberly to his keyboard. Ball told the Guardian: “We were a weird couple: Marc, this gay bloke in makeup; and me, a big guy who looked like a minder.”
Ball’s death comes a few weeks after Soft Cell’s headlining performance at the Rewind Festival at Henley-on-Thames in August, where he took to the stage in a wheelchair. This was the result of a serious accident in March 2022, when he fell down the stairs at his south London home and broke his back, leading to a protracted stay in intensive care.
“I was pretty much unconscious for about two months, as I was in an induced coma,” he said. “I was so medicated, I was on everything, from morphine upwards. I was even on fentanyl, and that’s the stuff that killed Prince.”
