Soft Cell star behind iconic queer anthem ‘Tainted Love’ dies aged 66
Dave Bell of Soft Cell during Rewind South Festival 2025 (Mike Prior/Redferns)
Dave Bell of Soft Cell during Rewind South Festival 2025 (Mike Prior/Redferns)
Dave Ball, one half of Soft Cell, has died aged 66.
Dave Ball was joined in the 80s synth-pop band by Marc Almond, who is gay, with the pair best known for their iconic take on “Tainted Love” by Gloria Jones.
The Guardian reports that representatives for Ball said the musician died “passed away peacefully in his sleep at his London home on Wednesday.”
In a statement Almond described his bandmate as a “wonderful brilliant musical genius.” While no cause of death has been given at this time, Almond did say, “Dave has been ill for a long while and his health had been in slow decline over recent years.”
Ball suffered from pneumonia and sepsis after a fall in 2022, at one point being put into an induced coma. He recently performed with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames while in a wheelchair.
However, Almond said “Dave was in a great place emotionally, feeling focused and happy with the new album, Danceteria,” which he said had only been “completed days ago.” Almond added, “It makes me so sad as this would have been a great uplifting year for him and I can take solace that he heard this finished record and felt it was a great piece of work.”
Elsewhere he spoke of the pair’s history together, describing them as being like “chalk and cheese,” though offering this explains the pair’s chemistry. “There was always the warmth and chemistry, deep respect for each other that gave a strength to our song writing together,” he also said.
“He really was the heart of Soft Cell, I always really thought it was his baby,” the singer then said. Closing his statement Almond said, “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.”
Finally, he added, “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.”
Born in 1959, Ball was raised in an adopted household in Blackpool. He and Almond formed Soft Cell in 1977 after meeting at university in Leeds and recorded their first EP.
They released their version of “Tainted Love” in 1981 with the song becoming the UK’s biggest-selling single that year. It was featured on their debut album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret which is considered a classic of the time and genre.
After two more albums Soft Cell parted way with Ball going on to help set up the band, The Grid. Soft Cell then reunited in 2001 before parting ways agin only to reunite again in 2018.
Danceteria will be the band’s sixth album. The BBC reports Ball as saying its influences lie in the New York club scene from the band’s early days as well as his time in hospital.
Ball told Classic Pop, “I had strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine. The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time. In parallel, it’s about the times me and Marc got up to in the 80s.”
Danceteria is due to be released in Spring 2026.
