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Dave Ball, one half of the influential and chart-topping new wave band Soft Cell, has died. He was 66. <\/p>\n
Representatives for the musician told The Guardian<\/a> that he passed away at his home in London on Wednesday. <\/p>\n No cause of death was provided, but the BBC<\/a> reports that he had been in ill health in recent years and had performed a Soft Cell show weeks earlier while in a wheelchair. <\/p>\n Soft Cell\u2019s singer, Marc Almond, paid tribute to Ball on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cIt 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,\u201d Almond wrote on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cAs many of you are aware, Dave has been ill for a long while and his health had been in slow decline over recent years.<\/p>\n \u201cYet 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,\u201d Almond continued.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish he could have stayed on to celebrate 50 years in a couple of years time,\u201d he wrote. \u201cHe will always be loved by fans who loved his music. It\u2019s a cliche to say but it lives on and somewhere at any given time around the world someone listens to, plays, dances, and get\u2019s pleasure from a Soft Cell song – even if it\u2019s just that particular two and half minute epic.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 \u201cTainted Love,\u201d which reached no. 8 on the U.S. charts. Their other songs include \u201cSay Hello, Wave Goodbye,\u201d \u201cWhat\u201d and \u201cBedsitter.\u201d <\/p>\n The pair broke up in 1984 but reunited in 2001. They had been performing and recording together since then semi-regularly. <\/p>\n Ball had been working on a new Soft Cell album with Armond, called \u201cDanceteria,\u201d which is scheduled for release next year.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n