Dave Ball, one half of the influential and chart-topping new wave band Soft Cell, has died. He was 66.
Representatives for the musician told The Guardian that he passed away at his home in London on Wednesday.
No cause of death was provided, but the BBC reports that he had been in ill health in recent years and had performed a Soft Cell show weeks earlier while in a wheelchair.
Soft Cell’s singer, Marc Almond, paid tribute to Ball on social media.
“It is hard to write this, let alone process it, but it is with the greatest sadness that the other half of Soft Cell, the wonderful brilliant musical genius David Ball, died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday night,” Almond wrote on Instagram. “As many of you are aware, Dave has been ill for a long while and his health had been in slow decline over recent years.
“Yet he always came back with a determined spirit to continue his work in the studio and, although he has been unable to travel abroad, he has still been able to perform with me as Soft Cell on occasions in the UK,” Almond continued.
“I wish he could have stayed on to celebrate 50 years in a couple of years time,” he wrote. “He will always be loved by fans who loved his music. It’s a cliche 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.”
Ball and Almond formed Soft Cell in 1979 while they were in college, with Almond serving as lead singer while Ball playing synthesizers and other instruments. The group had a number of hits, most notably their 1981 cover of “Tainted Love,” which reached no. 8 on the U.S. charts. Their other songs include “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye,” “What” and “Bedsitter.”
The pair broke up in 1984 but reunited in 2001. They had been performing and recording together since then semi-regularly.
Ball had been working on a new Soft Cell album with Armond, called “Danceteria,” which is scheduled for release next year.
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