Multi-instrumentalist David Ball, who scored a No. 1 hit with 1981’s “Tainted Love” as part of the English synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died. He was 66 years old.
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According to a statement from his family, Ball died peacefully in his sleep Wednesday, Oct. 22, after years of slowly declining health.
“Dave’s passing is announced with great sadness and affection for this gregarious, warm-hearted man of many musical talents,” read an online tribute on the band’s official website. “Dave is survived by his close family including his four children.”
In 1978, David Ball formed Soft Cell with his Leeds Polytechnic classmate, vocalist Marc Almond. Their first single, “Memorabilia,” caught fire in English nightclubs, but failed to replicate that success on the charts. The duo’s label, Phonogram Records, gave Soft Cell one final chance at chart success. They chose to record a cover of “Tainted Love,” a relatively unknown Northern soul track originally released by T. Rex’s Gloria Jones.
Topping the chart in 17 countries, “Tainted Love” set a Guinness World Record at the time for the longest consecutive stay on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it camped out for 43 weeks.
“We wanted to make catchy but twisted pop songs,” Ball said in a 2021 interview with Mojo. “But we were just two weird guys from Leeds Poly art school – being in the charts was never the plan.”
[RELATED: How Soft Cell Dusted off an Obscure 60s B-Side and Soared With “Tainted Love”]
David Ball Was Working on New Projects With Soft Cell
David Ball’s death comes just two months after Soft Cell played their only UK show of 2025, headlining the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames on Aug. 16. For his final gig ever, Ball took the stage in a wheelchair.
“I managed to damage myself quite a bit,” he told the Yorkshire Post following a 2022 fall at his London home.
Still, Ball refused to let these health setbacks derail him. “[He] always came back with a determined spirit to continue his work in the studio,” wrote Soft Cell vocalist Marc Almond in an online tribute to his longtime bandmate.
Recently, the duo had been back in the studio working on their seventh studio album, Danceteria. Named for the legendary 1980s New York nightclub, the record is due out in spring 2026.
“I wish he could have stayed on to celebrate 50 years in a couple of years time. He will always be loved by fans who loved his music,” Almond wrote. “It’s a cliché to say but it lives on and somewhere at any given time around the world someone listens to, plays, dances, and get’s pleasure from a Soft Cell song – even if it’s just that particular two and half minute epic.”
Featured image by Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns
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