Stranger Things has been a crash course on ’80s culture for those too young to have lived through the decade themselves. For Marc Almond, whose band Soft Cell was the soundtrack to those exciting ...

Dave Ball, the instrumentalist in hit ‘80s British synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died. He was 66. The duo was best known for ...

How does a somewhat unheard 60s B-side eventually become one of the most iconic hits of the 1980s? “Tainted Love” took one of the most bizarre journeys ever from its humble origins to its belatedly ...

Ball’s death came after Soft Cell played for more than 20,000 fans while headlining Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames in ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. David Chiu is a freelance music writer based in New York.

A musician behind one of the biggest hits of the 1980s is dead at age 66. Dave Ball, one-half of the synth-pop duo Soft Cell, died Wednesday, according to bandmate Marc Almond. The BBC reports Ball ...

Dave Ball, who has died at the age of 66, was that musical force, creating ominous, polyphonic soundscapes to match Marc ...

One half of the 80s new wave duo Soft Cell, David Ball, has died at the age of 66. He passed away in his sleep, The Guardian ...

Soft Cell's second single, “Tainted Love” topped the charts in the U.K. and 17 countries around the world and was certified ...

David Ball, instrumentalist of Soft Cell and a key player for "Tainted Love," died on Oct. 22, 2025, at age 66.

Dave Ball, the instrumentalist for the hit ’80s British synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at age 66. The band announced on its official Instagram account that the musician “passed away peacefully in ...

Jim Seals, who teamed with fellow musician “Dash” Crofts on such 1970s soft-rock hits as “Summer Breeze,” “Diamond Girl” and “We May Never Pass This Way (Again),” has died at age 80. His death was ...