 Bassey began to live as a tax exile in 1968, and was unable to work in Britain for almost two years.Also in 1968, at the Sanremo Festival in Italy, she performed "La vita", an Italian song by Bruno Canfora and Antonio Amurri, with some lyrics re-written in English by Norman Newell for her.Bassey's version of the song, with its chorus sung in Italian, became a Top 40 hit in Italy.