Dave Ball of Soft Cell dies at 66, final album Danceteria completed

Dave Ball, the electronic musician who co-founded synthpop duo Soft Cell, died peacefully in his sleep at his London home on Wednesday, October 22, the band announced. He was 66. Ball’s death came days after he and singer Marc Almond completed what the pair described as their final Soft Cell album, Danceteria, due for release in spring 2026. A cause of death has not been disclosed.

Almond, Ball’s collaborator for almost 50 years, led public tributes. In a statement he said, "He was focused and so happy with the new album that we literally completed only a few days ago," and called Ball "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius." Almond added that he wished his partner "would have stayed on long enough to celebrate our 50 years together in a couple of years time."

Formed in the late 1970s when Ball and Almond were art students in Leeds, Soft Cell helped define the synthpop sound of the early 1980s. Their 1981 debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret and the single Tainted Love attracted international attention; Tainted Love reached number one in several countries and became one of the defining tracks of the era. The duo released a string of albums and singles across the 1980s, reunited for...