Dave Ball, One Half of 'Tainted Love' Synth-Pop Group Soft Cell, Dies at 66

Dave Ball, one half of the synth-pop due Soft Cell, died this week at 66.

Marc Almond, Ball's musical partner for nearly 50 years, announced the sad loss on Facebook.

“It is hard to write this, let alone process it,” Almond wrote, “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.”

Ball performed until just weeks before his death. Almond said that the two had just finished their next album, “Danceteria,” this week.

“It is most heartbreaking, particularly at this time, that Dave was in a great place emotionally, feeling focused and happy with the new album, Danceteria, that we literally had only just completed days ago. I listened to the complete album for the first time yesterday. 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. Dave’s music is better than ever — his tunes, his hooks unmistakably Soft Cell. Yet he always took it to a different level,” Almond went on.

He closed with, “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.”

Soft Cell was most famous for the 1981 smash "Tainted Love" from the album "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret." The single went Top 10 in the U.S., and was their first of a dozen hits in the U.K.