Synth-pop musician Dave Ball, who was one half of the popular 1980s band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
The electronic musician, who, along with bandmate Marc Almond scored a UK number one with Tainted Love, died on Wednesday, just days after completing a new Soft Cell album.
Almond, 68, described him as a “wonderfully brilliant musical genius”.
Paying tribute, he said: “It is hard to write this, let alone process it, as Dave was in such a great place emotionally. He was focused and so happy with the new album that we literally completed only a few days ago…
Pic: Mike Owen
“He will always be loved by the Soft Cell fans who love his music and his music and memory will live on. At any given moment, someone somewhere in the world will be getting pleasure from a Soft Cell song.
“Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the music you gave me. I wouldn’t be where I am without you.”
Forming in the late 1970s, the duo were pioneers of the synth-pop sound which would become popular in the 1980s, and were best known for songs such as their cover of Gloria Jones’s Tainted Love, Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, and Torch.
Away from Soft Cell, Ball was also one half of acid house act The Grid, alongside musician and producer Richard Norris. They enjoyed chart success in the 1990s, most notably with the top three single and international hit Swamp Thing.
Ball also worked as a songwriter, producer and remixer for other artists, and had worked with everyone from David Bowie, Kylie Minogue, Pet Shop Boys and Erasure, to alternative acts such as Psychic TV and Gavin Friday.
But he was best known for his work with Soft Cell, and made what turned out to be his final appearance with the band only weeks ago at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
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